ILLINOIS  HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


THE  LINCOLN  CENTENNIAL  ASSOCIATION 


FORMER  GUESTS  OF  HONOR. 

The  Honorable  Wm.  H.  Taft,  President  of  the  U.  S. 

The  Right  Honorable  James  Bryce,  The  British  Ambassador. 

The  Honorable  J.  J.  Jusserand,  The  French  Ambassador. 
*The  Honorable  Jonathan  P.  Dolliver  of  Iowa. 

The  Honorable  William  Jennings  Bryan  of  Nebraska. 

The  Honorable  Robert  T.  Lincoln  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  N.  C.  Blanchard  of  Louisiana. 

The  Honorable  Fred  T.  Dubois  of  Idaho. 

The  Honorable  Charles  S.  Deneen  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  John  W.  Noble  of  Missouri. 

The  Honorable  Martin  W.  Littleton  of  New  York. 

The  Honorable  Richard  Yates  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  Peter  S.  Grosscup  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  William  H.  Seaman  of  Wisconsin. 

The  Honorable  Albert  B.  Anderson  of  Indiana. 
*The  Honorable  Alfred  Orendorff  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  James  S.  Harlan  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Honorable  William  A.  Rodenburg  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  John  P.  Hand  of  Illinois. 

Dr.  Booker  T.  Washington  of  Alabama. 
*The  Honorable  Howland  J.  Hamlin  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  William  H.  Stead  of  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  Francis  G.  Blair  of  Illinois. 

*  Deceased. 


THE  LINCOLN  CENTENNIAL  ASSOCIATION 


INCORPORATORS. 

*Hon.  Melville  W.  Fuller,  Chief  Justice  U.  S.  Supreme  Court. 
Hon.  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  United  States  Senator. 
Hon.  Albert  J.  Hopkins. 

Hon.  Joseph  G.  Cannon,  Member  of  Congress. 
Hon.  Adlai  E.  Stevenson. 
Hon.  Charles  S.  Deneen,  Governor  of  Illinois. 
Hon.  John  P.  Hand,  Justice  Supreme  Court,  Illinois. 
Hon.  J.  Otis  Humphrey,  Judge  U.  S.  District  Court. 
Hon.  James  A.  Rose,  Secretary  of  State. 
Hon.  Ben.  F.  Caldwell. 
Hon.  Richard  Yates. 
Melville  E.  Stone,  Esq.,  New  York. 
Horace  White,  Esq.,  New  York. 
John  W.  Bunn,  Esq. 
Dr.  William  Jayne. 


OFFICERS. 

President J.  Otis  Humphrey 

Vice  President John  W.  Bunn 

Secretary Philip  B.  Warren 

Treasurer J.  H.  Holbrook 


DIRECTORS 

Shelby  M.  Cullom  J.  Otis  Humphrey 

John  W.  Bunn  Charles  S.  Deneen 

James  A.  Rose 

*  Deceased. 


THE  LINCOLN  CENTENNIAL  ASSOCIATION 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

John  W.  Bunn.  Thomas  Rees. 

Victor  Bender.  George  Reisch. 

Clinton   L.  Coukling.  James  A.  Rose. 

Shelby  M.   Cullom.  Nicholas  Roberts. 

Charles  S.  Deneen.  Edgar  S.  Scott. 

E.  A.  Hall.  George  B.  Stadden. 

Logan  Hay.  Louis  C.  Taylor. 

J.  Otis  Humphrey.  Jas.  R.  B.  VanCleave. 

William  Jayne.  Philip  B.  Warren. 

William  B.  Jess.  Howard  K.  Weber 

Edward  D.  Keys.  Bluford  Wilson. 

George  Pasfield,  Jr.  W.  F.  Workman. 

Edward  W.  Payne.  Loren  E.  Whaeler. 

MEMBERSHIP  COMMITTEE. 
Nicholas  Roberts.  Verne  Ray. 

James  A.  Easley.  Latham  T.  Souther. 

Arthur  D.  Mackie. 

PUBLICITY  COMMITTEE. 

James  A.  Rose.  Henry  M.  Merriam. 

Jas.  R.  B.  VanCleave.  Thomas  Rees. 

BANQUET  COMMITTEE. 

George  B.  Stadden.  John  McCreery. 

Philip  Barton  Warren.  Walter  McClellan  Allen 

MUSIC  COMMITTEE. 

Robert  C.  Brown.  Albert  Guest. 

Clark  B.  Shipp. 

SPEAKER'S  COMMITTEE. 

Shelby   M.   Cullom.  Charles  S.  Deneen. 

J.  Otis  Humphrey. 

SOUVENIR  AND  PRINTING  COMMITTEE. 
Jas.  R.  B.  VanCleave.  Archibold  L.  Bowen. 

Harrison  C.  Blankmeyer. 

CEREMONIES  COMMITTEE. 
Jas.  A.  Rose.  Francis  G.  Blair. 

J.  H.  Collins. 

DECORATION  COMMITTEE. 
Henry  Abels.  H.  D.  Swirles. 

George  B.  Helmle.  Frank  S.  Dickson. 

Hi 


THE  LINCOLN  CENTENNIAL  ASSOCIATION 


LIFE  MEMBERS. 


ARKANSAS. 

LUXORA. 
S.  E.  Simonson. 

CALIFORNIA. 
SAN  FRANCISCO. 
Geo.  N.  Avmsby. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

WASHINGTON. 
Shelby  M.  Cullom. 
*Melville  W.  Fuller. 
Geo.  C.  Rankin. 
Wm.  Barrett  Ridgely. 

INDIANA. 
WlNIMAC. 

Moses  A.  Dilts. 
IOWA. 

OSKALOOSA. 

J.  F.  McNiel. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

AMHEBST. 
E.  F.  Leonard. 

MICHIGAN. 
BATTLE  CREEK. 
Charles  W.  Post. 

MINNESOTA. 

ST.  PAUL. 
Asa  G.  Briggs. 

MISSOURI. 
ST.  Louis. 
Wells  H.  Blodgett. 
W.  L.  Desnoyers. 
V.  E.  Desnoyers. 
David  R.  Francis. 

*  Deceased. 


James  C.  Jones. 
Warrick  M.  Hough. 
Ridgely  Hudson. 
B.  C.  Winston. 

NEW  YORK. 
NEW  YORK  CITY. 
John  W.  Ayinar. 
Bird  S.  Coler. 
W.  N.  Coler. 
Melville  E.  Stone. 
Horace  White. 

OHIO. 
LIMA. 

B.  R.  Stephens. 
OKLAHOMA. 

VlNITA. 

Joseph  A.  Gill. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

PHILADELPHIA. 
William  H.  Lambert. 

TEXAS. 

EL   PASO. 

Jos.  W.  Norvell. 

WISCONSIN. 
MILWAUKEE. 

John  E.  Burton. 
H.  F.  Whitcomb. 

ILLINOIS. 

ALTON. 
J.  A.  Cousley. 
ANNA. 
H.  H.  Kohn. 

ASHLAND. 

Edwin  C.  Beggs. 
F.  C.  Wallbaum. 


iv 


AUBURN. 
W.  W.  Lowry. 

AURORA. 
Ira  C.  Copley. 
Albert  J.  Hopkins. 

BELLEVILLE. 
Wm.  U.  Halbert. 

BETHANY. 
John  A.  Freeland. 
A.  R.  Scott. 

BLOOMINGTON. 
J.  H.  Cheney. 
LaFayette  Funk. 
Frank  Gillespie. 
Thos.  C.  Kerrick. 
John  T.  Lillard. 
Adlai  E.  Stevenson. 

BUFFALO. 
Henry  C.  Garvey. 
Oliver  McDaniel. 

BUFFALO  HART. 
John  S.  Hurt. 

CAIRO. 

F.  A.  DeRosset. 
Geo.  Parsons. 

CAMBRIDGE. 
John  P.  Hand. 

CANTON. 
U.  G.  Orendorff. 
William  H.  Parlin. 

CARBONDALE. 
E.  E.  Mitchell. 
*Geo.  W.   Smith. 
George  W.  Smith. 

CARLINVILLE. 
William  H.  Behrens. 
Frank  L.  Burton. 
John  I.  Rinaker. 
Robert  B.    Shirley. 

CARTHAGE. 
James  F.  Gibson. 


CHAMPAIGN. 
Euclid  B.  Rogers. 

CHARLESTON. 
Frank  K.  Dunn. 

CHATHAM. 
Ben.  F.  Caldwell. 

CHICAGO. 
Jacob  M.  Appel. 
J.  Ogden  Armour. 
A.  C.  Bartlett. 
Wm.  G.  Beale. 
W.  L.  Brown. 
Patrick  J.  Cahill. 
William  T.  Church. 
Alex  Chystraus. 
C.  E.  Crafts. 
F.  P.  Daniels. 
Richmond  Deau. 
Charles  S.  Deneen. 
Theodore  Finn. 
Peter  S.  Grosscup. 
Ernest  A.  Hamill. 
Isaac  Miller  Hamilton. 
J.  T.  Harahan. 
Geo.  B.  Harris. 
Jesse  Holdom. 
L.  J.  Hungerford. 
Albert  M.  Johnson. 
Frank  H.  Jones. 
Nicholas   R.   Jones. 
S.  O.  Knudson. 
Chas.  R.  E.  Koch. 
Joseph  Leiter. 
Robt.  T.  Lincoln. 
H.  A.  Mathews. 
Willard  M.  McEweu. 
Willis  Melville. 
Wm.  II.  Mitchell. 
Edward  Morris. 
Edward  H.  Morris. 
Frank  W.  Morse. 
James  H.  Roberts. 
W.  C.  Seipp. 
Frank   C.   Shepherd. 
Frank  L.  Shepherd. 
Byron  L.   Smith. 
Orson  Smith. 
A.  A.  Sprague. 
Charles  S.  Sweet.         > 


Charles  S.  Sweet,  Jr. 
George  W.  Webster. 
Elijah  N.  Zoline. 

DANVILLE. 
Joseph  G.  Cannon. 
Walter  J.  Grant. 
Wm.  R.  Jewell. 
Frank  Lindley. 
John  L.  Watts. 

DECATUB. 
Everett  J.  Brown. 
Hugh  Crea. 
O.  B.  Gorin. 
Milton  Johnson. 
E.  S.  McDonald. 
Joseph  J.  Sheehan. 

DEKALB. 

A.  J.  Kennedy. 

DIVERNON. 
*Charles  G.  Brown. 

DIXON. 
*S.  H.  Bethea. 

DONAVAN. 

John   Nelson. 

D  WIGHT. 
Frank  L.  Smith. 

EAST  ST.  Louis. 
J.  B.  Maguire. 
Wm.  E.  Trautman. 
Sidney  D.  Wilgus. 

EDWARDSVILLE. 

B.  B.  Cl^wson!;  ;f;:;r;; 

ELGIN. 
Sidney  D.   Wilgus. 

.  ELKIIAKT. 
John  D.  G.  Oglesby. 

EVANSTON. 

J.  Seymour -CuErey. 
FARMERSYILLE. 
John  Ball. 


GALESBURG. 
W.  E.  Terry. 

GRANITE  CITY. 
R.  E.  Neidringhaus. 

HAMILTON. 
Edmund  P.  Denton. 

HABBISBUBG. 
Harry  Taylor. 
I.  R.  Tuttle. 

JACKSONVILLE. 
J.    L.    Adams. 
H.  B.  Carriel. 
Thos.  B.  Orear. 
Andrew  Russel. 
Miller  Weir. 
Thomas  Worthington. 

JOLIET. 
W.  W.  Smith. 

KANKAKEE. 
Frank  P.  Norbury. 
Len  Small. 

LANESVILLE. 
P.  J.  Kent. 

LA  SALLE. 
F.  W.  Matthiessen. 

LINCOLN. 
J.  A.  Lucas. 

LlTCHFIELD. 

J.  Carl  Dodds. 
J.  Carl  Dodds. 

MADISON. 
F.  A.  Garesche. 

MATTOON. 
Jas.  W.  Craig. 

MECHANICSBUBG. 
W.  S.  Bullard. 

-       MOLOE. 
J.  B.  Oakleaf.,1  jiam'l 

MORRISON. 
F.  E.  Ramsey. 


-  .:i,\l 
*  Deceased. 


• 


MT.  STERLING. 
J.  F.  Regan. 

MT.  VEKNON. 
W.  C.  Arthurs. 

NEW  BERLIN. 
B.  W.  Brown. 
J.  Brown  Hitt. 

NEWMAN. 
Scott  Burgett. 
W.  M.  Young. 

NORMAL. 
David  Felmley. 
R.  N.  McCauley. 

OREGON. 
Frank  O.  Lowden. 

OTTAWA. 
M.  T.  Moloney. 

PANA. 
A.  H.  McTaggert. 

PARIS. 
Charles  P.  Hitch. 

PAWNEE. 
Edward  Baxter. 
Frank  Morrell. 
Thos.  A.  Shepherd. 

PAXTON. 
Charles   Bogardus. 

PEARL  CITY. 
Charles  Musser. 

PEORIA. 

Edward  U.  Henry. 
Robert  H.  Lovett.    - 
H.  W.  Lynch. 
W.   G.   McRoberts. 
I.  C.  Pinkney. 
P.  G.  Rennick. 
Frederick  H.  Smith. 
Joseph  A.  Weil. 


vii 


PlTTSFIELD. 
Harry  Higbee. 

PONTIAC. 
J.  M.  Lyon. 

PRENTICE. 
J.  H.  Hubbs. 

QUINCY. 
J.  O.  Anderson. 
Edward  J.   Parker. 
W.  S.  Warfield. 
Fred  Wilms. 

RlCHLAND. 

Tavner  Anderson. 

RIVERTON. 
John  Deal. 

ROBINSON. 
A.  H.  Jones. 

ROCHESTER. 
Ira  F.  Twist. 

ROCKFORD. 

Win.   W.  Bennett. 
Robert  Ren. 

ROCK  ISLAND. 
Joseph  DeSilva. 

RUSHVILLE. 
John  S.  Little. 

SlIARPSBURG. 

O.  S.  Nash. 

SHELBYVILLE. 
J.  W.  Yantis. 

TAYLORVILLE. 
John  E.  Hogan. 
Ernest  Hoover. 

UEBANA. 
Edmund  J.  James.- 1  .Y/~ 

VANDALIA. 
Jno.  J.  Brown. 
W.  M.  Farmer. 


VlRDEX. 

S.  H.  Humphrey. 
Joseph  N.  Ross. 
J.  H.  Shriver. 
H.  C.  Simons. 
Howard  T.  Wilson. 

VIRGINIA. 
*R5chard  W.  Mills. 


WlLLIAMSYILLE. 

J.  F.  Prather. 
John  W.  Prather. 

WlLMETTE. 

W.  T.  Smith. 

WINCHESTER. 
A.  P.  Grout. 


SPRINGFIELD. 


Henry  Abels. 
Alfred  Adams. 
O.  G.  Addleman. 
Walter  McC.  Allen. 
A.  A.  Anderson. 
*Jas.  H.  Anderson. 
Oscar  Ansell. 
W.  P.  Armstrong. 
O.  B.  Babcock. 
L.  L.  Bacchus. 
Raymond  V.  Bahr. 
Richard  Ball. 
John  A.  Barber. 
H.  E.  Barker. 
S.  A.  Barker. 
James  H.  Barkley. 
A.  J.  Barnes. 
Edgar  S.  Barnes. 
W.  B.  Barry. 
Geo.  A.  Bates. 
Chas.   T.   Baumann. 
R.  J.  Beck. 
H.  S.  Beckemeyer. 
Geo.  H.  Becker. 
Victor  E.  Bender. 
Robert  L/.  Berry. 
Chas.  T.  Bisch. 
Harold  P.  Bisch. 
John  W.  Black. 
Ira  B.  Blackstock. 
Francis  G.  Blair. 
Harrison  C.  Blankmeyer. 
Frank  H.  Bode. 
Alfred  Booth. 
C.  M.  Bowcock. 
Archibald  L.  Bowen. 
W.  L.  Bowlus. 
Wm.  A.  Bradford. 
Jas.  L.  Brainerd. 

*  Deceased. 


Charles  Bressmer. 
John  Bressmer. 
John  E.  Bretz. 
John  F.  Bretz. 
Geo.  M.  Brinkerhoff,  Sr. 
Geo.  M.  Brinkerhoff,  Jr. 
John  H.  Brinkerhoff. 
Stuart  Broadwell. 
A.  Campbell  Brown. 
C.  E.  Brown. 
Milton  Hay  Brown. 
Owsley  Brown. 
Robert  C.  Brown. 
Stuart  Brown. 
W.  H.  Bruce. 
Fred  Buck. 
E.  H.  Buckley. 
Samuel  A.  Bullard. 
Wm.  A.  M.  Bunker. 
Geo.  W.  Bunn. 
Henry  Bunn. 
Jacob  Bunn. 
John  W.  Bunn. 
Joseph  F.  Bunn. 
Willard  Bunn. 
Edmund  Burke. 
Sainl.  T.  Burnett. 
\Vm.  G.  Burns. 
William  J.  Butler. 
J.  F.  Cadwallader. 
E.  E.  Cantrall. 
C.  C.  Carroll. 
*Noah  M.  Cass. 
Stanley  Castle. 
E.  L.  Chapin. 
Geo.  W.  Chatterton.  Sr. 
Henry  L.  Child. 
Robt.  A.  Clarkson 
George  E.  Coe. 


vii 


Louis  J.  Coe. 
Harry  E.  Coe. 
E.  R.  Coggswell. 
Nathan  Cole. 
L.  H.  Coleman. 
Logan  Coleman. 
Louis  G.  Coleman. 
J.  H.  Collins. 
Clinton  L.  Conkling. 
Wm.  H.  Oonkling. 
J.    Fleetwood   Connelly, 
James  A.  Connolly. 
Robert  Connolly. 
.    A.  E.  Converse. 

A.  L.  Converse. 
Henry  A.  Converse. 
Wm.  O.  Converse. 
Thomas  Condell. 

T.  J.  Condon. 
W.  H.  Conway. 
.Tas.  L.  Cook. 
John  C.  Cook. 
James  A.  Creighton. 
*A.  N.  J.  Crook. 
Shelby  M.  Cullom. 
L.  A.  Danner. 
Gaylord  Davidson. 
Henry  Davis. 
J.  McCan  Davis. 
Geo.  Edward  Day. 
Don  Deal. 
T.  E.  Dempcy. 
Charles  S.  Deneen. 
V.  E.  Desnoyers. 
W.  L.  Desnoyers. 

D.  A.  DeVares. 
Frank  S.  Dickson. 
Isaac  R.  Diller. 
J.  W.  Diller. 
Henry  A.  Dirksen. 
Fred  C.  Dodds. 

R.  N.  Dodds. 
Thos.  M.  Dolan. 
Harry  F.  Dorwin. 
Shelby  C.  Dorwin. 
James  E.  Dowling. 

B.  F.  Drennan. 
Lincoln  Dubois. 
Geo.  C.  Dunlop. 

E.  J.  Dunn. 

*  Deceased. 


James  A.  Easley. 
R.  H.  Easley. 
A.  W.  Edward. 
Albert  S.  Edwards. 
Richard  Egan. 
Anton  Elshoff. 
Emory  Enuis. 
James  Fairlie. 
Joseph  Farris. 
D.  Frank  Fawcett. 
Clarence  W.  Feaster. 
J.  H.  Feltham. 
William  Fetzer. 
Joel  C.  Fitch. 
Frank  R.  Fisher. 
C.  A.  Fiske. 
Arthur  M.  Fitzgerald. 
Ed.  J.  Flinn. 
J.  G.  Fogarty. 
John  L.  Fortado. 
John  J.  Foster. 
Carl  D.  Franke. 
John  B.  Franz. 

C.  A.  Frazee. 

D.  C.  Frederick. 
James  Furlong. 
M.  B.  Garber. 
G.  J.  George. 
Cornelius  J.  Giblin. 
George  B.  Gillespie. 
Frank  Godley. 
Hugh  J.  Graham. 
James  M.  Graham. 
John  H.  Green. 

I.   L.   Greene. 
R.  A.  Guest. 
Rudolph  Haas. 
A.  Lee  Hagler. 
Elmer  E.  Hagler. 
Nathan  Halderman. 

E.  A.  Hall. 
James  A.  Hall. 
Wathen  Hamilton. 
C.  F.  Handshy. 
Saml.  J.  Hanes. 
Wm.  B.  Hankins. 

*Edw.  F.  Hartman. 
Frank  L.  Hatch. 
Pascal  E.  Hatch. 
Robt.  E.  Hatcher. 


ix 


L'harles  E.  Hay. 
Logan  Hay. 
E.  F.  Hazell. 
Ernest  H.  Helmle. 
George  B.  Helmle. 
J.  C.  Helper. 
G.  B.  Hemenway. 
J.  E.  Hemmick. 

A.  L.  Hereford. 
R.  F.  Herndon. 

Rev.  Timothy  Hickey. 
George  C.  Hickox. 
Howard  T.  Hicks. 

B.  R.  Hieronymus. 
Adelbert  P.  Higley. 
Alonzo  Hoff. 

J.  H.  Holbrook. 
W.  J.  Horn. 
W.  M.  Howard. 
James  L.  Hudson. 
Ridgely  Hudson. 
Arthur  F.  Hughes. 
J.  Otis  Humphrey. 
Otis  S.  Humphrey. 
R.  G.  Hunn. 
Charles  H.  Hurst. 
Harry  L.  Ide. 
Roy  Ide. 
Edwin  F.  Irwin. 
Horace  C.  Irwin. 
W.  M.  Jageiran. 
A.  C.  James. 
Frank  R.  Jamison. 
William  Jayne. 
James  W.  Jefferson. 
Roy  T.  Jefferson. 
Wm.  B.  Jess. 
Edward  S.  Johnson. 
James  A.  Jones. 
James  T.  Jones. 
M.  A.  Jones. 
Strother  T.  Jones. 
Charles  P.  Kane. 
Alvin  S.  Keys. 
Edward  D.  Keys. 
Edward  L.  Keys. 
George  E.  Keys. 
John  M.  Kimble. 
Richard  F.  Kinsella. 
Ben  M.  Kirlin. 


Carl  Klaholt. 
Benjamin  Knudson. 
Geo.  N.  Kreider. 
Frank  T.  Kuhl. 
B.  A.  Lange. 
Geo.  C.  Latham. 
Henry  C.  Latham. 

F.  M.  Legg. 
Jerome  A.  Leland. 
Warren  E.  Lewis. 
Gersham  J.  Little. 

G.  L.  Lloyd. 
John  H.  Lloyd. 
Rev.  T.  D.  Logan. 
E.  F.  Lomelino. 
Fred  W.  Long. 
Harry  T.  Loper. 
J.  H.  Lord. 

"John  S.  Lord. 
Henry  B.  Lubbe. 
T.  B.  Luby. 
John  Lutz. 
Thos.  E.  Lyon. 
Arthur  D.  Mackie. 
Alex.  B.  Macpherson. 
J.  F.  Macpherson. 
Charles  J.  Maldaner. 
James   M.   Margrave. 
William  Marlowe. 
John  D.  Marney. 
H.  W.  Masters. 
Robert  Matheny. 
James  H.   Matheny. 
Rodman  C.  O.  Matheny. 
A.  F.  Maurer. 
O.  F.  Maxon. 
R.  H.  McAnulty. 
Plato  McCourtney. 
John  McCreery. 
James  S.  McCullough. 
Frank  M.  McGowan. 
Harry  O.  McGrue. 
J.  F.  McLennan. 
Henry  B.  McVeigh. 
John  E.  Melick. 
H.  M.  Merriam. 
J.  F.  Miller. 
L.  S.  Miller. 
Charles  F.  Mills. 
Lewis  H.  Miner. 


*  Deceased. 


W.  H.  Minton. 
John  P.  Mockler. 
C.  F.  Mortimer. 
S.  E.  Munson. 
P.  F.  Murphy. 

C.  R.  Murray. 
Geo.  W.  Murray. 
Thos.  J.  Murray. 
Albert  Myers. 
Louis  H.  Myers. 
W.  H.  Nelms. 
Harry  W.  Nickey. 
W.  A.  Northcott. 
P.  J.  O'Reilly. 

*Alfred  Orendorff. 
James  R.  Orr. 
W.  A.  Orr. 
E.   W.  Osborne. 
James  H.  Paddock. 
H.  C.  Page. 
Geo.  Thomas  Palmer. 
George  Pasfield,  Sr. 
George  Pasfield,  Jr. 
Warren  E.  Partridge. 
Charles  L.  Patton. 
James  W.  Patton. 
William  L.  Patton. 
Wm.  A.  Pavey. 
Edward  W.  Payne. 
Jesse  K.  Pay  ton. 
A.  T.  Peters. 

D.  Lyman  Phillips. 
Robt.  J.  Phillips. 
Herman  Pierik. 
John  C.  Pierik. 

A.  C.  Piersel. 
John  Pope. 
A.  J.  Portch. 
Fred  W.  Potter. 
Rufus  M.  Potts. 
Charles  A.  Power. 
H.  T.  Pride. 
Arthur  E.  Prince. 
*John  A.  Prince. 
Edgar  C.  Pruitt. 
Henry  G.  Pyle. 
G.  W.  Quackenbush. 
John  Quinlan. 
John  P.  Ramsey. 
Albert  H.  Rankin. 


Isaac  N.  Ransom. 

Verne  Ray. 

Horace  S.  Rearden. 

Roy  R.  Reece. 

Thomas  Rees. 

Carl  M.  Reisch. 

Edward  Reisch. 

Frank  Reisch. 

George  Reisch. 

George  Reisch,  Jr. 

Joseph  Reisch. 

Leonard  Reisch. 

Henry  C.  Remann. 

Benjamin  Rich. 

Franklin  Ridgely. 

William  Ridgley. 

Chas.  D.  Roberts. 

Nicholas  Roberts. 

Chas.  H.  Robinson. 

Edward  S.  Robinson. 

W.  E.  Robinson. 

Roy  F.  Rogers. 

John  D.  Roper. 

James  A.  Rose. 

C.  H.  Rottger. 

Albert  Salzenstein. 

Emanuel  Salzensteiu. 

L.  J.  Samuels. 

M.  D.  Schaff. 

G.  H.  Schonbacher. 

F.  L.  Schlierbach. 

Emil  G.  Schmidt. 

John  S.  Schnepp. 

J.  B.  Scholes. 

Saml.  D.  Scholes,  Jr. 

Charles  Schuck. 

C.  W.  H.  Schuck. 

J.  H.  Schuck. 

Edgar  S.  Scott. 

John  W.  Scott. 

O.  G.  Scott. 
*Thornas  W.  Scott. 

Roy  M.  Seeley. 

Richings  J.  Shand. 

William  Sheehan. 

Lawrence  Y.  Sherman. 
*Chas.  M.  Shepherd. 

Wm.  B.  Shepherd. 

Clark  B.  Shipp. 

John  H.  Si'ses. 


*  Deceased. 


A.  W.  Sikking. 
Frank   Simmons. 
Geo.  M.  Skelly. 
Dewit  W.  Smith. 
E.  S.  Smith. 
Glen  D.  Smith. 
Hal  M.  Smith. 
Wm.  W.  Smith. 
E.  A.  Snively. 
H.  M.  Solenberger. 
W.  C.  Sommer. 
Latham  T.  Souther. 
J.  W.  Southwick. 
W.  J.  Spaulding. 
E.  A.  Stadden. 
Geo.  B.  Stadden. 
W.  0.  Starck. 
Wm.  H.  Stead. 
Geo.  F.  Stericker. 
Albert  D.  Stevens. 
"Henry  A.  Stevens. 
J.  H.  Story. 
Sam'l  J.  Stout. 
R.  H.  Strongman. 
J.  W.  Stuart. 
Thos.  W.  Sudduth. 
R.  M.  Sullivan. 
Wm.  H.  Sullivan. 
W.  W.  Swett,  Jr. 
H.  G.  Swirles. 
J.  Mack  Tanner. 
Louis  G.  Taylor. 
Will  Taylor. 
E.  R.  Thayer. 
James  W.  Templeman. 
W.  A.  Townsend. 
Wm.  W.  Tracey. 
H.  H.  Tuttle. 
Joseph  W.  Vance. 


Burke  Vancil. 
Jas.  R.  B.  VanCleave. 
Walter  S.  Van  Duyn. 
Peter  Vredenburgh,  Sr. 
Robert  O.  Vredenburg. 
Thos.  D.  Vredenburg. 
Wm.  R.  Vredenburg. 
C.  H.  Walters. 
J.  C.  Walters. 
Philip  B.  Warren. 
Howard  K.  Weber. 
Frank  Weidlocher. 
Charles  Werner. 
Charles  R.  Wescott. 
Loren  E.  Wheeler. 
Frank  D.  Whipp. 
J.  E.  White. 
Henry  C.  Whittemore. 
Charles  S.  Whitney. 
Lewis  N.  Wiggins. 
Harry  T.  Willett. 
Samuel  J.  Willett. 
Daniel  T.  Williams. 
Bluford  Wilson. 
G.  M.  Wilson. 
H.  Clay  Wilson. 
Henry  W.  Wilson. 
J.  F.  Wilson. 
Thomas  W.  Wilson. 
Chas.  G.  Wineteer. 
T.  E.  Wing. 
C.  M.  Woods. 
W.  F.  Workman. 
Richard  Yates. 
John  York. 
W.  A.  Young. 
William  Zapf. 
Joseph  Zimmerman. 
Chas.  W.  Zumbrook. 


*  Deceased. 


f 

vva,    Wu 


c£  the  wwtn  c^ 


VM,    wie 


±/Vet»    ^Lelctncl    •j 


MENU 


BLUE  POINTS 
HEARTS  OF  CELERY  MARTINI  COCKTAIL 


CLEAR  GREEN  SEA  TURTLE.  ROYAL 
PIMOLA  OLIVES  SALTED  ALMONDS 


FILLET  OF  SEA  BASS,  DARMENONVILLE 
SLICED  CUCUMBERS  POTATOES  ROSETTE 

APOLL1NAR1S 


CASSOLETTE  OF  CALF'S  SWEETBREADS,  MASSENET 
SWEET  POTATO  CROQUETTES  FRESH  MUSHROOMS 


PUNCH  NATIONAL 

POMMERY  SEC 


ROAST  JUMBO  SQUAB,  SUR  CANAPE 
FRENCH  PEAS  RED  CURRANT  JELLY 


ST.  REGIS  SALAD 


NEAPOLITAN  ICE  CREAM  ASSORTED   CAKES 

ROQUEFORT  CHEESE  SALT  WAFERS 

DEMI  TASSE 

CIGARS 


LELAND  HOTEL  February  12,  1912. 


1B03-1912 


I  NVOCATION 


INTRODUCTION  ...  THE   HONORABLE    J.OTIS    HUMPHREY 


ABRAHAM     LINCOLN  -         THE     HONORABLE    HENRY    CABOT    LODGE 


ABRAHAM     LINCOLN         ...          TH  E   HON  ORABLE   FRAN  K   B.  Wl  LLI5 

THE    MAN  OF    OHIO 


Etnrnln  (Etttttttntal  A000riatt0n 


OBJECT 

To  properly  observe  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln;  to  preserve  to  posterity  the  memory 
of  his  words  and  works,  and  to  stimulate  the  patriotism 
of  the  youth  of  the  land  by  appropriate  annual  exercises. 


The 

-incoln  Year  Book 


Containing  3mmortal 
ot  &bcaf)am  Eincoln 


Spoken  and  Written  on  Various  Occasions, 
Preceded  by  Appropriate  Scripture  Texts 
and  Followed  by  Choice  Poetic  Selections 
for  Each  Day  in  the  Year,  with  Special 
Reference  to  Anniversary  Dates. 


Compiled  by 

].  T.  HOBSON.  D  D.,  LL.B. 


Ninr.teen  JIun-tred  and  Twelve 

Prr.st  of  United  Rrrthrrn  Publishing  Houn 

Daytiin,  Ohio 


Copyrisht  by  J.  T.  HOBSON 
1907 


PREFACE 

This  volume  is  unique,  there  being  nothing  like  it  in  the  broad 
field  of  Lincoln  literature.  It  gives  an  insight  to  the  mind  and 
heart  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  a  new  form.  Following  each  date  for  the 
calendar  year  there  is  an  appropriate  Scripture  quotation,  fol- 
lowed by  the  immortal  words  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  page 
closing  with  a  choice  poetic  selection,  all  happily  blended  in  simi- 
lar lines  of  thought. 

No  irreverence  is  meant  by  quoting  Scripture  selections  in  con- 
nection with  the  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  for  he  was  a  Bible  student, 
and  often  quoted  from  the  Sacred  Word.  The  authorized  version 
of  Scripture  is  used,  it  being  more  familiar  with  the  masses,  and 
was  in  exclusive  use  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  day. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  fond  of  poetic  literature,  particularly  Shakes- 
peare, and  often  recited  and  read  from  poetic  authors  for  the 
entertainment  and  benefit  of  his  friends. 

The  selections  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  spoken  or  written  words  are 
on  a  variety  of  subjects,  under  various  circumstances,  and  at 
different  periods  of  his  life.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  headings 
or  topics  chosen  are  his  own  words  found  in  the  selections  that 
follow.  Other  headings  might  have  been  given  in  many  instances, 
but  such  were  chosen  as  would  give  the  greatest  variety.  It 
should  be  observed  that  the  selections,  covering  so  many  years, 
could  not  be  arranged  in  chronological  order  in  one  calendar  year 
because  of  conflicting  dates. 

The  reader  should  be  familiar  with  Lincoln  chronology  as 
given  on  page  six,  and  also  note  the  introductory  words  following 
each  heading,  so  as  to  understand  whether  Mr.  Lincoln  speaks  as 
a  private  citizen,  lawyer,  candidate,  legislator,  Congressman,  or 
as  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Scripture  selections  have  been  chosen  with  care,  the  words 
of  Lincoln  carefully  compiled  from  various  sources,  noted  else- 
where, while  the  poetic  selections  gathered  from  newspapers, 


magazines,  pamphlets,  and  various  books  of  poetry,  form  the 
cream  of  poetic  literature.  The  author  of  each  poetic  selection  is 
given  when  known  to  the  compiler,  but  it  is  regretted  that  so 
many  appear  anonymously. 

While  the  plan  of  the  book  is  for  reading  each  day  of  the  year, 
yet  the  matter  is  appropriate  and  interesting  for  any  time,  and 
for  miscellaneous  reading.  In  the  rearrangement,  attention  has 
been  paid  to  appropriate  selections  for  various  anniversary  occa- 
sions, although  the  words  were  not  always  uttered  on  such 
occasions. 

Much  time  has  been  spent  in  gathering  these  selections,  and  in 
their  arrangement,  but  it  has  been  a  pleasure;  and  it  is  hoped 
that  many  a  pleasant  hour  will  be  spent  in  reading  and  studying 
these  three  departments  of  literature — the  precious  words  of 
Scripture,  the  immortal  words  of  the  great  emancipator,  and  the 
message  of  the  muses.  J.  T.  H. 


CONTENTS 


I.  Frontispiece.      (Portrait  of  Abraham  Lincoln.) 

II.     Title  Page   1 

III.  Copyright  Notice  2 

IV.  Preface    3,  4 

V.     Contents    5 

VI.     Chronology  of  Abraham  Lincoln 6 

VII.     Anniversary  Dates 7 

VIII.     Acknowledgment    8 

IX.     The  Lincoln  Year  Book 9-374 

X.     Index  to  Selected  Topics 375-378 

XI.     Index  to  Poetic  Authors  and  Selections 379,  380 

XII.     Index  to  Scripture  Quotations 381-383 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Born  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  February  12,  1809. 

Moved  to  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  in  1816. 

Death  of  his  mother,  Nancy,  October  5,  1818. 

Father  married  Sarah  Bush  Johnston,  1819. 

Moved  to  Illinois  in  1830. 

Captain  in  Black  Hawk  War  in  1832. 

Appointed  postmaster  at  New  Salem,  Illinois,  in  1833. 

Elected  to  Illinois  Legislature  in  1834,  1836,  1838,  1840. 

Admitted  to  the  bar  in  1837. 

Presidential  elector  on  Whig  ticket,  1840. 

Married  to  Miss  Mary  Todd,  November  4,  1842. 

Elected  to  Congress  in  1846,  1848. 

Father,  Thomas  Lincoln,  died  January  17,  1851. 

Canvassed  Illinois  for  prohibition  in  1855. 

Debated  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  1858. 

Nominated  for  President  of  United  States  at  Chicago,  May  16, 

1860. 

Elected  President,  November  6,  1860. 
Inaugurated  President,  March  4,  1861. 
Issued  call  for  75,000  volunteers,  April  15,  1861. 
Issued  Emancipation  Proclamation,  January  1,  1863. 
Renominated  for  President,  June,  1864. 
Reflected  President,  November  8,  1864. 
Reinaugurated  President,  March  4,  1865. 
Shot  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  April  14,  1865. 
Died  April  15,  1865. 
Buried  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  May  3,  1865. 


ANNIVERSARY  DATES 

Emancipation  Day  January  1 

Ground  Hog  Day February  2 

Lincoln's  Birthday  February  12 

Valentine  Day   February  14 

Washington's'  Birthday  February  22 

Inauguration  Day March  4 

All  Fools'  Day April  1 

Good  Friday April  14  (1865) 

Arbor   Day    April  22 

Decoration  Day May  30 

Children's  Day  June  1 

Flag  Day June  14 

Independence  Day  July  4 

Labor  Day September  5 

Hallowe'en   October  31 

Thanksgiving  Day November  24  (1864) 

Forefathers'  Day   December  22 

Christmas  Day December  25 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

The  compiler  of  this  volume  is  chiefly  indebted  to  the  following 
sources  of  information  on  Lincoln  literature,  with  privilege  of 
using  selections: 

J.  H.  Barrett:  "Life,  Speeches,  and  Public  Services  of  Abraham 
Lincoln." 

F.  B.  Carpenter:    "Six  months  at  the  Yv'hite  House."    The  Inde- 
pendent, New  York. 

J.  B.  McClure:  "Anecdotes  of  Abraham  Lincoln."  Rhodes  & 
McClure  Publishing  Co.,  Chicago. 

D.  D.  Thompson:  "Abraham  Lincoln,  the  First  American." 
Jennings  &  Graham,  Cincinnati. 

G.  M.  Van  Buren:   "Abraham  Lincoln's  Pen  and  Voice."     The 
Robert  Clarke  Co.,  Cincinnati. 

Paul  Selby:  "Stories  and  Speeches  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 
Thompson  &  Thomas,  Chicago. 

John  G.  Nicolay:  "Abraham  Lincoln:  A  Short  History."  The 
Century  Co.,  New  York. 

C.  M.  Nichols:  "Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln."  The  Crowell  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  Springfield,  Ohio. 

McClure's  Magazine,  New  York. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    1    (Emancipation    Day) 


He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of 
the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound.     Isaiah  61 :  1. 


fe&all  be  fut. 

(Emancipation    Proclamation,    issued    January    1,    1863, 
setting  at  liberty  four  million  slaves.) 

By  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do 
order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said 
designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are,  and  henceforward  shall 
be  free;  and  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recog- 
nize and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons.  .  .  .  And  upon 
this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the 
Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate 
judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God. 


You  freed  the  bondman  -from  his  iron  master, 
You  broke  the  strong  and  cruel  chains  he  wore; 

You  saved  the  ship  of  state  from  foul  disaster, 
And  brought  her  safe  to  shore. 

— Eugene  J.  Han. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY     3 

I  have  made  thee  a  great  name,  like  unto  the  name  of  the  great  men 
that  are  in  the  earth.     II.  Samuel  7 : 9. 


Jj2anu  in 

(To  Mr.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  on  signing  the  Proc- 
lamation.) 

I  have  been  shaking  hands  since  nine  o'clock  this  morning,  and 
my  right  hand  is  almost  paralyzed.  If  my  name  ever  goes  into 
history,  it  will  be  for  this  act,  and  my  whole  soul  is  in  it.  If  my 
hand  trembles  when  I  sign  the  Proclamation,  all  who  examine 
the  document  hereafter  will  say,  "He  hesitated." 

(To  Mr.  Col  fax.) 

The  South  had  fair  warning.  I  told  them  in  September  that 
if  they  did  not  return  to  their  duty  I  would  strike  at  this  pillar 
of  their  strength.  The  promise  must  now  be  kept,  and  I  shall 
never  recall  one  word. 

(To  Mr.  F.  B.  Carpenter,  in  February,  1865.) 

As  affairs  have  turned,  it  is  the  central  act  of  my  Administra- 
tion, and  the  greatest  event  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


Nature,  they  say,  doth  dote 
And  cannot  make  a  man 
Save  on  some  worn-out  plan, 
Repeating  us  by  rote: 

For  him  her  Old-World  molds  aside  she  threw, 
And,  choosing  sweet  clay  from  the  breast 
Of  the  unexhausted  West, 
With  stuff  untainted  shaped  a  hero  new, 
Wise,  steadfast  in  the.  strength  of  God,  and  true. 

— Lowell. 


10 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY  3 

I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death,  blessing  and  cursing :  therefore 
choose  life,  that  both  thou  and  thy  seed  may  live.     Deuteronomy  30 : 19. 


Q£u0t  SDie  t&at  t&e  |2atfon  Sgfg&t 

(To  Mr.  George  Thompson,  the  English  anti-slavery  orator.) 

I  did  not  consider  that  I  had  a  right  to  touch  the  state  institu- 
tion of  slavery  until  all  other  measures  for  restoring  the  Union 
had  failed.  The  paramount  idea  of  the  Constitution  is  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union.  It  may  not  be  specified  in  so  many  words, 
but  that  this  was  the  idea  of  its  founders  is  evident,  for,  without 
the  Union,  the  Constitution  would  be  worthless.  It  seems  clear, 
then,  that  in  the  last  extremity,  if  any  local  institution  threat- 
ened the  existence  of  the  Union,  the  Executive  could  not  hesitate 
as  to  his  duty.  In  our  case  the  moment  came  when  I  felt  that 
slavery  must  die  that  the  nation  might  live!  I  have  sometimes 
used  the  illustration  in  this  connection  of  a  man  with  a  diseased 
limb,  and  his  surgeon.  So  long  as  there  is  a  chance  of  the 
patient's  restoration  the  surgeon  is  solemnly  bound  to  try  to  save 
both  life  and  limb;  but  when  the  crisis  comes,  and  the  limb  must 
be  sacrificed  as  the  only  chance  of  saving  the  life,  no  honest  man 
will  hesitate. 


Thy    name    shall    live    while    time    endures, 

And  men  shall  say  of  thee, 
"He  saved  the  country  from  its  foes, 

And  bade  the  slave  be  free." 

— Anonymous. 


11 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    4 

A  wise  man's  heart  discerneth  both  time  and  judgment.    Ecclesiastes  8  :  5. 


Public  Sentiment. 


(To  Mr.   George  Thompson.    Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Many  of  my  strongest  supporters  urged  emancipation  before  I 
thought  it  indispensable  and,  I  may  say,  before  I  thought  the 
country  ready  for  it.  It  is  my  conviction  that,  had  the  proclama- 
tion been  issued  six  months  earlier  than  it  was,  public  sentiment 
would  not  have  sustained  it.  The  step,  taken  sooner,  would  not, 
in  my  judgment,  have  been  carried  out.  A  man  watches  his  pear- 
tree  day  after  day,  impatient  for  the  ripening  of  the  fruit.  Let 
him  attempt  to  force  the  process,  and  he  may  spoil  both  fruit  and 
tree.  But  let  him  patiently  wait,  and  the  ripe  pear  at  length  falls 
into  his  lap!  We  have  seen  this  great  revolution  in  public  senti- 
ment slowly  but  surely  progressing,  so  that,  when  final  action 
came,  the  opposition  was  not  strong  enough  to  defeat  the  purpose. 
I  can  now  solemnly  assert  that  I  have  a  clear  conscience  in  regard 
to  my  action  on  this  momentous  question.  I  have  done  what  no 
man  could  have  helped  doing,  standing  in  my  place. 


Yes,  this  is  he  who  ruled  a  world  of  men, 

As  might  some  prophet  of  elder  day — 

Brooding  above  the  tempest  and  the  fray, 
With  deep-eyed  thought,  and  more  than  mortal  ken, 

A  power  was  his  beyond  the  touch  of  art, 

Or  armed  strength — his  pure  and  mighty  heart. 

— Anonymous. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY  5 

As  we  have  therefore  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men.  Galatians 
6:  10. 


SLmntstp  and  dlnibtrsal  Suffrage. 

(From  a  letter  to  General  Wadsworth.) 

You  desire  to  know,  in  the  event  of  our  complete  success  in  the 
field,  the  same  being  followed  by  a  loyal  and  cheerful  submission 
on  the  part  of  the  South,  if  universal  amnesty  should  not  be 
accompanied  with  universal  suffrage.  Now,  since  you  know  my 
private  inclination  as  to  what  terms  should  be  granted  to  the 
South  in  the  contingency  mentioned,  I  will  here  add  that  if  our 
success  should  be  thus  realized,  followed  by  such  desired  results, 
I  cannot  see,  if  universal  amnesty  is  granted,  how,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, I  can  avoid  exacting  in  return  universal  suffrage,  or 
at  least  suffrage  on  the  basis  of  intelligence  and  military  service. 


In  statesmen  of  heroic  mold,, 

His  country's   great   high  priest, 
Whose  human  heart  could  still  unfold 

All  things  the  great,  the  least; 
Who  proved  to  earth  that  simple  trust 

Is  more  than  Norman  Wood, 
That  he  is  crowned  icho  can  he  just, 

The  great  must  first  he  good. 

— Mary  M.   Adams 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    6 

Render  therefore  to  all  their  dues.     Romans  13 :  7. 


2Drmon3tratrti  in  Blood  Ufjcir  KiciJt  to  t&e  Ballot 

(To  General  Wadsworth.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

How  to  better  the  condition  of  the  colored  race  has  long  been 
a  study  which  has  attracted  my  serious  and  careful  attention; 
hence  I  think  I  am  clear  and  decided  as  to  what  course  I  shall 
pursue  in  the  premises,  regarding  it  a  religious  duty,  as  the 
nation's  guardian  of  these  people  who  have  so  heroically  vindi- 
cated their  manhood  on  the  battlefield,  where,  in  assisting  to  save 
the  life  of  the  Republic,  they  have  demonstrated  in  blood  their 
right  to  the  ballot,  which  is  but  the  humane  protection  of  the 
flag  they  have  so  fearlessly  defended. 


A  tetter  day  is  coming,  a  morning  promised  long, 

When  girded  Right,  with  holy  Might,  will  overthrow  the  wrong; 

When  God  the  Lord  will  listen  to  every  plaintive  sigh, 

And  stretch  his  hand  o'er  every  land  with  Justice  by  and  by. 


14 


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JANUARY  7 

would  seek  unto  God,  and  unto  God  would  I  commit  my  cause.  Job.  5 :  8. 


r€f)f  Cau0r  ot  $$?  Country. 


(From  a  speech  at   Springfield,   Illinois,  in  1840.) 

Many  free  countries  have  lost  their  liberty,  and  ours  may  lose 
hers;  but  if  she  shall,  be  it  my  proudest  plume,  not  that  I  was 
the  last  to  desert,  but  that  I  never  deserted  her.  If  I  ever  feel  the 
soul  within  me  elevate  and  expand  to  those  dimensions  not  wholly 
unworthy  of  its  Almighty  Architect,  it  is  when  I  contemplate 
the  cause  of  my  country  deserted  by  all  the  world  beside,  and  I, 
standing  up  boldly  and  alone,  hurling  defiance  at  her  victorious 
oppressors.  And  here,  without  contemplating  consequences,  be- 
fore high  Heaven  and  in  the  face  of  the  whole  world,  I  swear 
eternal  fidelity  to  the  just  cause,  as  I  deem  it,  of  the  land  of  my 
life,  my  liberty,  and  my  love.  And  who  that  thinks  with  me  will 
not  fearlessly  adopt  the  oath  I  take? 


Man,   throughout  all   agea   of  revolving   time. 
Unchanging  man,  in  every  varying  clime, 
Deems  his  own  land  of  every  land  the  pride, 
Belored  by  Heaven  o'er  all  the  world  beside; 
His  home  the  spot  of  earth  supremely  blest, 
4.  dearer,  sweeter  spot  than  all  the  rest. 

— James  Montgomery. 


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JANUARY   8 

The  preacher  sought  to  find  out  acceptable  words.     Ecclesiastes  12 : 10. 


in  Eanguage. 

(To  Rev.  J.  P.  Gulliver,  in  the  early  part  of  1860.) 

I  can  remember  going  to  my  little  bedroom,  after  hearing  the 
neighbors  talk  of  an  evening  with  my  father,  and  spending  no 
small  part  of  the  night  walking  up  and  down,  and  trying  to  make 
out  what  was  the  exact  meaning  of  some  of  their,  to  me,  dark 
sayings.  I  could  not  sleep,  though  I  often  tried  to,  when  I  got 
on  such  a  hunt  after  an  idea,  until  I  had  caught  it;  and  when  I 
thought  I  had  got  it,  I  was  not  satisfied  until  I  had  repeated  it 
over  and  over,  until  I  had  put  it  in  language  plain  enough,  as  I 
thought,  for  anybody  I  knew  to  comprehend.  This  was  a  kind  of 
passion  with  me,  and  it  has  stuck  to  me;  for  I  am  never  easy 
now,  when  I  am  handling  a  thought,  till  I  have  bounded  it  north, 
and  bounded  it  south,  and  bounded  it  east,  and  bounded  it  west. 


The  heights  by  great  men  gained  and  kept 
Were  not  attained  by  sudden  flight, 

But  they  while  their  companions  slept 
Were  toiling  upward  in  the  night. 

— Anonymous. 


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JANUARY  9 

A  false  balance  is  abomination  to  the  Lord  :  but  a  just  weight  is  his 
delight.  Proverbs  11 : 1. 


(Said  to  Mr.  Herndon,  his  law  partner  in  Springfield,  after 
throwing  a  book  on  the  table.) 

No,  sir,  I  've  read  enough  of  it.  It  is  like  all  the  others. 
Biographies,  as  generally  written,  are  not  only  misleading  but 
false.  The  author  of  that  Life  of  Burke  makes  a  wonderful  hero 
out  of  his  subject.  He  magnifies  his  perfections,  and  suppresses 
his  imperfections.  He  is  so  faithful  in  his  zeal,  and  so  lavish  in 
his  praise  of  his  every  act,  that  one  is  almost  driven  to  believe 
that  Burke  never  made  a  mistake  or  failure  in  his  life.  Billy, 
I  've  wondered  why  book  publishers  and  merchants  don't  have 
blank  biographies  on  their  shelves,  ready  for  an  emergency;  so 
that  if  a  man  happens  to  die,  his  heirs  or  his  friends,  if  they 
wish  to  perpetuate  his  memory,  can  purchase  one  already  written, 
but  with  blanks.  These  blanks  they  can  fill  up  at  their  pleasure 
with  rosy  sentences  full  of  high-sounding  praise.  In  most  in- 
stances they  commemorate  a  lie,  and  cheat  posterity  out  of  the 
truth. 


Historians,  only  things  of  weight, 
Results  of  persons,  or  affairs  of  state, 
Briefly,  icith  truth  and  clearness  should  relate: 
Laconic  shortness  memory  feeds. 

— Heath. 


17 


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JANUARY  10 

Oppress  not  the  widow,  nor  the  fatherless.     Zechariah  7 :  10. 


&ome  TOnctf  Hegallp  IBUgjjt  J!2ot  ei^orallp  Kigljt. 

(Said  to  a  man  who  had  an  undesirable  case.) 

Yes,  we  can  doubtless  gain  your  case  for  you;  we  can  set  a 
whole  neighborhood  at  loggerheads;  we  can  distress  a  widowed 
mother  and  her  six  fatherless  children,  and  thereby  get  for  you 
six  hundred  dollars  to  which  you  seem  to  have  a  legal  claim,  but 
which  rightly  belongs,  it  appears  to  me,  as  much  to  the  woman 
and  children  as  it  does  to  you.  You  must  remember  that  some 
things  legally  right  are  not  morally  right.  We  shall  not  take 
your  case,  but  will  give  you  a  little  advice  for  which  we  will 
charge  you  nothing.  You  seem  to  be  a  sprightly,  energetic  man; 
we  would  advise  you  to  try  your  hand  at  making  six  hundred 
dollars  in  some  other  way. 


We  get  back  our  mete  a#  we  measure — 

We  cannot  do  wrong  and  feel  right, 
yor  can  we  give  pain  and  gain  pleasure — 

For  justice  avenges  each  slight. 
The  air  for  the  icing  of  the  sparrow, 

The  bush  for  the  robin  and  wren, 
But  alway  the  path  that  is  narrow 

And  straight,  for  the  children  of  men. 

— Alice  Gary. 


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JANUARY    11 

Every  man  with  his  staff  In  his  hand.     Zechariah  8 :  4. 


Character  in  Canrg. 


(Addressed  to  a  gentleman  calling  at  the  White  House, 
with  a  cane,  which  the  President  held  in  his  hand  while  he 
spoke. ) 

I  always  carried  a  cane  when  I  was  a  boy.  It  was  a  freak  of 
mine.  My  favorite  one  was  a  knotted  beech  stick,  and  I  carved 
the  head  myself.  There  's  a  mighty  amount  of  character  in  sticks; 
don't  you  think  so?  You  have  seen  these  fishing  poles  that  fit 
into  a  cane?  Well,  that  was  an  old  idea  of  mine.  Dogwood  clubs 
were  favorite  ones  with  the  boys.  I  suppose  they  use  them  yet. 
Hickory  is  too  heavy  unless  you  get  it  from  a  young  sapling. 
Have  you  ever  noticed  how  a  stick  in  one's  hands  will  change  in 
appearance? 


A  peaceful  life — just  toil  and  rest — 

All  his  desire — 
To  read  the  books  he  liked  the  best 

Beside  the  cabin  fire; 
God's  Word  and  man's;  to  peer  sometimes 

Above  the  page  in  smouldering  gleams, 
And  catch,  like  far  heroic  rhymes, 

The  onward  march  of  his  dreams. 

A  peaceful  life — to  hear  the  loic 

Of  pastured  herds, 
Or  woodman's  ax  that,  blow  on  blow, 

Fell  sweet  as  rhythmic  words. 
And  yet  there  stirred  within  his  breast 

A  fateful  pulse  that,  like  a  roll 
Of  drums,  made  high  above  his  rest 

A  tumult  in  his  soul. 

— James  Whitcomb  Riley. 


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JANUARY     12 

There  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall 
there  be  any  more  pain  :  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away.  Revela- 
tion 21 : 4. 


(Written  to  his   stepbrother,    John   Johnson,   January   12, 
1851.     Thomas  Lincoln  died  January  17,  1851.) 

I  sincerely  hope  father  may  yet  recover  his  health;  but  at  all 
events  tell  him  to  remember  to  call  upon  and  confide  in  our  great 
and  good  and  merciful  Maker,  who  will  not  turn  away  from  him 
in  any  extremity.  He  notes  the  fall  of  a  sparrow,  and  numbers 
the  hairs  of  our  heads;  and  he  will  not  forget  the  dying  man  who 
puts  his  trust  in  him.  Say  to  him,  that  if  we  could  meet  now  it 
is  doubtful  whether  it  would  not  be  more  painful  than  pleasant; 
but  that  if  it  be  his  lot  to  go  now,  he  will  soon  have  a  joyful 
meeting  with  loved  ones  gone  before,  and  where  the  rest  of  us, 
through  the  help  of  God,  hope  ere  long  to  join  them. 


Oh,  how  sweet  it  will  be  in  that  "beautiful  land, 

So  free  from  all  sorrow  and  pain; 
With  songs  on  our  lips,  and  with  harps  in  our  hands, 

To  meet  one  another  again. 

— Mrs.    Ellen    H.    Gates. 


20 


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JANUARY     13 

Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage ;  be  not  afraid,  neither  be  thou  dis- 
mayed :  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  with  thee.    Joshua  1 : 9. 


SDtato. 

(Delivered  In  the  Court  House  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  in 
1855,  to  an  audience  of  only  three  persons.  Mr.  Herndon 
got  out  huge  posters  announcing  the  event,  employed  a  band 
to  drum  up  a  crowd,  and  bells  were  rung.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
to  have  spoken  on  the  slavery  question.) 

GENTLEMEN:  This  meeting  is  larger  than  I  knew  it  would  be, 
as  I  knew  Herndon  and  myself  would  be  here;  and  yet  another 
one  has  come — you,  John  Pain  [the  janitor].  These  are  bad  times, 
and  seem  out  of  joint.  All  seems  dead,  dead,  DEAD;  but  the  age 
is  not  yet  dead;  it  liveth  as  sure  as  our  Maker  liveth.  Under  all 
this  seeming  want  of  life  and  motion,  the  world  does  move  never- 
theless. Be  hopeful.  And  now  let  us  adjourn  and  appeal  to  the 
people. 


'Press  on  !  there  's  no  such  word  as  fail  ; 

Press  nobly  on!  the  goal  is  near — 
Ascend  the  mountain!  breast  the  gale! 

Look  upward,  onward — never  fear! 
Why  shouldst  thou  faint  f  Heaven  smiles  above, 

Though  storm  and  vapor  intervene; 
The  sun  shines  on,  whose  name  is  Love, 

Serenely  o'er  life's  shadotc'd  scene. 

'Press  on!  if  Fortune  play  thee  false 
To-day,  to-morrow  she'll  be  true; 
Whom  now  she  sinks  she  now  exalts, 
Taking  old  gifts  and  granting  new. 
The  wisdom  of  the  present  hour 

Makes  up  for  follies  past  and  gone; 
To  weakness  strength  succeeds,  and  power 
From  frailty  springs — press  on !  press  on !" 

— Park  Benjamin. 

21 


JANUARY    14 

They  shall  speak  of  the  glory  of  thy  kingdom,  and  talk  of  thy  power. 
Psalms    145 :  11. 


SDoton  of  CtbH  and  HUUgfotttf 

(Said   after  hearing  a  sermon   by  Rev.   Dr.   Peter  Akers, 
near  Springfield,  Illinois,  In  1837.) 

It  was  the  most  instructive  sermon,  and  he  is  the  most  im- 
pressive preacher  I  have  ever  heard.  It  is  wonderful  that  God 
has  given  such  power  to  men.  I  firmly  believe  his  interpretation 
of  prophecy,  so  far  as  I  understand  it,  and  especially  about  the 
breaking  down  of  civil  and  religious  tyrannies;  and,  odd  as  it 
may  seem,  when  he  described  those  changes  and  revolutions,  I 
was  deeply  impressed  that  I  should  be  somehow  strangely  mixed 
up  with  them. 


80  he  grew  up,  a  destined  work  to  do, 

And  lived  to  do  it;  four  long  suffering  years, 

III  fate,  ill  feeling,  ill  report  lived  through, 

And  then  he  heard  the  hisses  change  to  cheers, 

The  taunts  to  tribute,  the  abuse  to  praise. 

And  took  both  with  the  same  unwavering  mood; 

Till,  as  he  came  forth  from  the  darkling  days, 
And  seemed  to  touch  the  goal  from  where  he  stood. 

— Tom  Taylor. 


22 


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JAXFARY    15 

All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doc- 
trine, for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness.  II. 
Timothy  3  : 16. 


3  If  abe  Cartfull?  Kr at)  t&e  Bible. 

(To  Mr.  Newton  Bateman,  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction of  Illinois,  in  looking  over  a  book  containing  the 
canvass  of  Springfield  voters  in  1860.) 

Here  are  twenty-.three  ministers  of  different  denominations, 
and  all  of  them  are  against  me  but  three,  and  here  are  a  great 
many  prominent  members  of  churches,  a  very  large  majority  are 
against  me.  Mr.  Bateman,  I  am  not  a  Christian.  God  knows  I 
would  be  one — but  I  have  carefully  read  the  Bible,  and  I  do  not 
so  understand  this  book  [he  drew  forth  a  pocket  New  Testament]. 
These  men  well  know  that  I  am  for  freedom  in  the  Territories, 
freedom  everywhere,  as  free  as  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  will 
permit,  and  that  my  opponents  are  for  slavery.  They  know  this, 
and  yet  with  this  book  in  their  hands,  In  the  light  of  which 
human  bondage  cannot  live  a  moment,  they  are  going  to  vote 
against  me!  I  do  not  understand  it  at  all. 


Within   this  ample  volume  lies 
The  mystery  of  mysteries. 
Happiest  they  of  the  human  race, 
To  whom  their  God  has  given  grace 
To  read,  to  fear,  to  hope,  to  pray, 
To  lift  the  latch,  to  force  the  way; 
And  better  had  they  ne'er  been  born, 
That  read  to  doubt,  or  read  to  scorn, 

— Sir  Walter  Scott. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    16 

God  Is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  In  trouble.  Psalms 
46:1. 


3 

(To  Mr.  Bateman.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

I  know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  he  hates  injustice  and  slavery. 
I  see  the  storm  coming,  and  I  know  that  his  hand  is  in  it.  If 
he  has  a  place  and  work  for  me,  and  I  think  he  has,  I  believe  I 
am  ready.  I  am  nothing,  but  Truth  is  everything.  I  know  I  am 
right,  because  I  know  that  liberty  is  right,  for  Christ  teaches  it, 
and  Christ  is  God.  I  have  told  them  that  "a  house  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand";  and  Christ  and  reason  say  the  same;  and 
they  will  find  it  so.  Douglas  doesn't  care  whether  slavery  is 
voted  up  or  down,  but  God  cares,  and  humanity  cares,  and  I  care; 
but  it  will  come,  and  I  shall  be  vindicated;  and  these  men  will 
find  that  they  have  not  read  their  Bibles  right. 


I,  the  Lord,  am  with  thee.  be  not  thou  afraid; 
I  will  help  and  strengthen,  be  thou  not  dismayed. 
Yea,  I  will  uphold  thee  with  my  oicn  right  hand; 
Thou  art  called  and  chosen  in  my  sight  to  stand. 

— Frances  Ridley  Harergal. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    17 

Their  rock  is  not  our  Rock,  even  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges. 
Deuteronomy  32  : 31. 


rdf)i<3  Eocfe  on  OOljid)  3 

(To  Mr.  Bateman.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Doesn't  it  seem  strange  that  men  can  ignore  the  moral  aspect 
of  this  contest?  A  revelation  could  not  make  it  plainer  to  me 
that  slavery  or  the  Government  must  be  destroyed.  The  future 
would  be  something  awful,  as  I  look  at  it,  but  for  this  rock  on 
which  I  stand  [alluding  to  the  New  Testament,  ^vhich  he  still 
held  in  his  hand],  especially  with,  the  knowledge  of  how  these 
ministers  are  going  to  vote.  It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne  with 
this  thing  [slavery]  until  the  teachers  of  religion  have  come  to 
defend  it  from  the  Bible,  and  to  claim  for  it  a  divine  character 
and  sanction;  and  now  the  cup  of  iniquity  is  full,  and  the  vials  of 
wrath  will  be  poured  out. 


But  patient  struggling  in  the  right, 
And  suffering  wrong  that  right  may  win, 

Achieves  the  victory  final,  bright, 
O'er  foes  without  and  fears  within. 
It  must  be  so,  for  right  must  win, 
Since  God  is  God  and  sin  is  sin. 

— Milton. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY   18 

Fear  not,  Abram :   I  am  thy  shield,   and  thy  exceeding  great  reward. 
Genesis    15 : 1. 


Jn  t&e  (Batten  of  (Bet|)0emane. 

(Said  to  Judge  Gillespie  at  Lincoln's  home  in  Springfield, 
Illinois,  January,  1861.) 

Gillespie,  I  would  willingly  take  out  of  my  life  a  period  in 
years  equal  to  the  two  months  which  intervene  between  now  and 
my  inauguration.  Because  every  hour  adds  to  the  difficulties  I 
am  called  upon  to  meet,  and  the  present  administration  does 
nothing  to  check  the  tendency  towards  dissolution.  I,  who  have 
been  called  to  meet  this  awful  responsibility,  am  compelled  to 
remain  here,  doing  nothing  to  avert  it  or  lessen  its  force  when 
it  comes  to  me.  I  see  the  duty  devolving  upon  me.  I  have  read 
upon  my  knees  the  story  of  Gethsemane,  when  the  Son  of  God 
prayed  in  vain  that  the  cup  of  bitterness  might  pass  from  him. 
I  am  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  now,  and  my  cup  of  bitterness 
is  full  to  overflowing. 


Each  one  has  his  Gethsemane;  for  each  there  is  a  dan 
When  he  shall  halt,  fear-stricken  by  the  darkness  in  the  way; 
When  he,  faint-hearted,  weary  of  the  griefs  he  j/et  must  bear, 
Shall  turn  aside  into  the  shad-e  and  soothing  calmness  there — 
Shall  turn  aside  and  bow  his  head,  and  on  his  bended  knees 
Pray  that  he  may  not  take  the  cup  and  drain  it  to  the  lees. 

— Anonymous. 


28 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    19 

All  nations  shall  call  you  blessed.     Malaehi  3  : 12. 

Perpetual  Peace  and  j?rirnb0f)ip. 

(Extracts  from  a  letter  written  January  19,  1863,  in  reply 
to  a  testimonial  of  sympathy  and  confidence  from  the  work- 
ingmen  of  Manchester,  England.) 

When  I  came  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  through  a  free  and  con- 
stitutional election,  to  preside  in  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  the  country  was  found  at  the  verge  of  civil  war.  What- 
ever might  have  been  the  cause,  or  whosoever  the  fault,  one  duty 
paramount  to  all  others  was  before  me,  namely,  to  maintain  and 
preserve  at  once  the  Constitution  and  the  Federal  Republic.  A 
conscientious  purpose  to  perform  this  duty  is  the  key  to  all  the 
measures  of  administration  which  have  been,  and  to  all  which 
will  hereafter  be  pursued.  ...  It  is  now  a  pleasant  duty  to 
acknowledge  the  demonstration  you  have  given  of  your  desire 
that  a  spirit  of  peace  and  amity  toward  this  country  may  prevail 
in  the  councils  of  your  Queen,  who  is  respected  and  esteemed  in 
your  own  country  only  more  than  she  is  by  the  kindred  nation 
which  has  its  home  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  ...  I  hail  this 
interchange  of  sentiment,  therefore,  as  an  augury  that,  whatever 
else  may  happen,  whatever  misfortune  may  befall  your  country 
or  my  own,  the  peace  and  friendship  which  now  exist  between 
the  two  nations  will  be,  as  it  shall  be  my  desire  to  make  them, 
perpetual. 


Columbia,  child  of  Britain  —  noblest  child; 

I  praise  the  glowing  luster  of  thy  youth, 
And  fain  would  sec  thy  great  heart  reconciled 

To  love  the  mother  of  so  blest  a  'birth: 
For  we  are  one  Columbia!  still  the  same 
Tn  lineage,  language,  and  ancient  fame, 

The  natural  nobility  of  earth. 


27 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    20 

The  kingdoms   of  this   world   are   become   the   kingdoms  of  our   Lord. 
Revelation  11 :  15. 


anto  fetoetien. 

(Reply   to   speech   of  minister  representing  the  Kingdom   of 
Norway  and  Sweden,  January  20,  1865.) 

My  memory  does  not  recall  an  instance  of  disagreement  be- 
tween Sweden  and  the  United  States.  Your  predecessor  was  most 
agreeable  in  his  intercourses  with  this  Government,  and  I  greet 
you  with  the  same  good  feeling  which  was  entertained  for  him 
while  he  resided  with  us.  ...  You  may  be  assured  that  on  my 
part  every  occasion  will  be  improved  to  exhibit  the  sincere  desire 
which  this  Government  entertains  for  the  prosperity  and  welfare 
of  the  Government  and  Kingdom  of  Sweden  and  Norway. 


America!  the  sound  is  like  a  sword 

To  smite  th'  oppressor  /  like  a  loving  word 

To  cheer  the  suffering  people,  while  they  pray 

That  God  would  hasten  on  the  promised  day 

When  earth  shall  be  like  heaven,  and  men  shall  stand 

Like  brothers  round  an  altar,  hand  in  hand. 

Oh!  ever  thus,  America,  be  strong — 

Like  cataracts'  thunder  pour  the  freeman's  song, 

Till  struggling  Europe  join-s  the  glad  refrain. 

And  startled  Asia  bursts  the  despot's  chain; 

And  Africa's  manumitted  sons,  from   thee 

To  their  own  fatherland  shall  bear  the  song — 

Worth  all  their  toils  and  tears — of  Liberty: 

For  these  good  deeds,  America,  be  strong! 

— Mrs.  Hale. 


28 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY     21 

Young  men  likewise  exhort  to  be  sober  minded.     Titus  2  :  6. 


t&e  goung 


(Reported  by  W.  H.  Herndon.) 

Now,  as  to  the  youg  men.  You  must  not  wait  to  be  brought 
forward  by  the  older  men.  For  instance,  do  you  suppose  that  I 
should  ever  have  got  into  notice  if  I  had  waited  to  be  hunted  up 
and  pushed  forward  by  older  men?  The  way  for  a  young  man 
to  rise  is  to  improve  himself  every  way  he  can,  never  suspecting 
that  anybody  wishes  to  hinder  him.  Allow  me  to  assure  you  that 
suspicion  and  jealousy  never  did  help  any  man  in  any  situation. 
There  may  sometimes  be  ungenerous  attempts  to  keep  a  young 
man  down;  and  they  will  succeed,  too,  if  he  allows  his  mind  to 
be  diverted  from  its  true  channel  to  brood  over  the  attempted 
injury.  Cast  about,  and  see  if  this  feeling  has  not  injured  every 
person  you  have  ever  known  to  fall  into  it. 


Let,  us  then,  be  up  and  doing, 
With  a  heart  for  any  fate; 

Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 
Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait. 

— Longfellow. 


29 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    22 

On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets.     Mat- 
thew 22  :  40. 


&abior'0  Confttngiti  ^tatnucni. 

(To  Honorable  H.  C.  Deming,  of  Connecticut.) 

I  have  never  united  myself  to  any  church,  because  I  have  found 
difficulty  in  giving  my  assent,  without  mental  reservation,  to  the 
long,  complicated  statements  of  Christian  doctrine  which  char- 
acterize their  Articles  of  Belief  and  Confessions  of  Faith.  When 
any  church  will  inscribe  over  its  altar,  as  its  sole  qualification  of 
membership,  the  Savior's  condensed  statement  of  the  substance 
of  both  law  and  gospel,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  that  church  will  I  join  with  all  my 
heart  and  all  my  soul. 


Had  I  the  tongue  of  Greeks  and  Jews, 
And  nobler  speech  than  angels  use; 
If  love  be  absent,  I  am  found, 
Like  tinkling  brass,  an  empty  sound. 
If  love  to  God,  and  love  to  man 
Be  absent,  all  my  hopes  are  vain; 
Nor  tongues,  nor  gifts,  nor  flery  zeal 
The  work  of  love  can  e'er  fulfil. 

— Watts. 


30 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY  23 

Wisdom    is   better   than    weapons   of   war.      Ecclesiastes    9 : 18. 


Si  Solitary 

(Lincoln  was  a  captain  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  of  1832. 
The  following  humorous  speech  was  delivered  in  Congress  in 
1848  by  way  of  sarcasm  on  the  efforts  of  General  Cass's 
friends  to  render  him  conspicuous  as  a  military  hero.  Cass 
was  a  candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States.) 

By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker,  did  you  know  that  I  am  a  military 
hero?  Yes,  sir,  in  the  days  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  I  fought, 
bled,  and  came  away.  Speaking  of  General  Cass's  career  reminds 
me  of  my  own.  I  was  not  at  Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was  about 
as  near  it  as  Cass  to  Hull's  surrender;  and,  like  him,  I  saw  the 
place  very  soon  afterward.  It  is  quite  certain  I  did  not  break 
my  sword,  for  I  had  none  to  break;  but  I  bent  a  musket  pretty 
badly  on  one  occasion.  If  Cass  broke  his  sword,  the  idea  is  that 
he  broke  it  in  desperation;  I  bent  the  musket  by  accident.  If 
General  Cass  went  in  advance  of  me  in  picking  whortleberries,  I 
guess  I  surpassed  him  in  charges  upon  the  wild  onions.  If  he 
saw  any  live  fighting  Indians,  it  was  more  than  I  did,  but  I  had 
a  good  many  bloody  struggles  with  the  mosquitoes;  and  although 
I  never  fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly  say  that  I  was 
often  hungry.  Mr.  Speaker,  if  I  should  ever  conclude  to  doff 
whatever  our  Democratic  friends  may  suppose  there  is  of  black- 
cockade  Federalism  about  me,  and,  thereupon,  they  should  take 
me  up  as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  I  protest  that  they 
shall  not  make  fun  of  me,  as  they  have  of  General  Cass,  by 
attempting  to  write  me  into  a  military  hero. 


Chosen  for  large  designs,  he  had  the  art 

Of  winning  with  his  humor,  and  he  went 
Straight  to  his  mark,  which  was  the  human  heart, 

Wise,  too,  for  what  he  could  not  break  he  bent. 

— R.  H.  Stoddard. 


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THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    24 

I  applied  mine  heart  to  know,  and  to  search,  and  to  seek  out  wisdom, 
and  the  reason  of  things.     Ecclesiastes  7  :  25. 


(To  Rev.  J.  P.  Gulliver,  in  1860.) 

In  the  course  of  my  law  reading  I  constantly  came  upon  the 
word  demonstrate.  I  thought  at  first  I  understood  its  meaning, 
but  soon  became  satisfied  that  I  did  not.  I  said  to  myself,  "What 
do  I  mean  when  I  demonstrate  more  than  when  I  reason  or 
prove?  How  does  demonstration  differ  from  any  other  proof?" 
I  consulted  Webster's  Dictionary.  That  told  me  of  "certain 
proof,"  "proof  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt";  but  I  could  form 
no  idea  what  sort  of  proof  that  was.  I  thought  a  great  many 
things  were  proved  beyond  a  possibility  of  doubt,  without  re- 
course to  any  such  extraordinary  process  of  reasoning  as  I  under- 
stood "demonstration"  to  be.  I  consulted  all  the  dictionaries  and 
books  of  reference  I  could  find,  but  with  no  better  results.  You 
might  as  well  have  defined  ~blue  to  a  blind  man.  At  last  I  said, 
"Lincoln,  you  can  never  make  a  lawyer  if  you  do  not  know  what 
demonstrate  means";  and  I  left  my  situation  in  Springfield,  went 
home  to  my  father's  house,  and  stayed  there  till  I  could  give  any 
proposition  in  the  six  books  of  Euclid  at  sight.  I  then  found  out 
what  "demonstrate"  means,  and  went  back  to  my  law  studies. 


The  man  who  seeks  one  thing  in  life,  and  but  one, 
May  hope  to  achieve  it  before  life  be  done; 
But  he  who  seeks  all  things,  wherever  he  goes, 
Only  reaps  from  the  hopes  ichich  around  him  he  sows 
A  harvest  of  barren  regrets. 

— Owen  Meredith. 


32 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    25 

Help  those  women  which  labored  with  me  in  the  gospel.  Philippians  4  :  3. 


flfiiomen  of  &metfca. 

(In  reply  to  a  delegation  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  from 
Philadelphia,  who  presented  a  vase  of  leaves  from  the  battle- 
field of  Gettysburg,  January  25,  1865.) 

T  accept,  with  emotions  of  profoundest  gratitude,  the  beautiful 
gift  you  have  been  pleased  to  present  to  me.  You  will,  of  course, 
expect  that  I  acknowledge  it.  So  much  has  been  said  about 
Gettysburg,  and  so  well  said,  that  for  me  to  attempt  to  say  any 
more  may,  perhaps,  only  serve  to  weaken  the  force  of  that  which 
has  already  been  said.  A  most  graceful  and  eloquent  tribute  was 
paid  to  the  patriotism  and  self-denying  labors  of  the  America* 
ladies,  on  the  occasion  of  the  consecration  of  the  National  Ceme- 
tery at  Gettysburg,  by  our  illustrious  friend,  Ed,vard  Everett, 
now,  alas!  departed  from  earth.  His  life  was  truly  a  great  one, 
and  I  think  the  greatest  part  of  it  was  that  which  crowned  its 
closing  years.  I  wish  you  to  read,  if  you  have  not  already  done 
so,  the  glowing  and  eloquent  and  truthful  words  which  he  then 
spoke  of  the  women  of  America.  Truly,  the  service  they  have 
rendered  to  the  defenders  of  our  country  in  this  perilous  time, 
and  are  yet  rendering,  can  never  be  estimated  as  it  ought  to  be. 
For  your  kind  wishes  to  me,  personally,  I  beg  leave  to  render  you, 
likewise,  my  sincerest  thanks.  I  assure  you  they  are  recipro- 
cated. And  now,  gentlemen  and  ladies,  may  God  bless  you  all. 


A  perfect  woman,  nobly  plann'd, 
To  warn,  to  comfort,  and  command; 
And  yet  a  spirit  still  and  bright, 
With  something  of  an  angel  light. 

— Wordsioorth. 


33 


JANUARY    26 

Before  honor   is   humility.      Proverbs   15  :  33. 


Candidate  for 

(First  political  speech  delivered  at  Papsville,  Illinois,  in 
1832,  when  twenty-three  years  of  age,  in  announcing  himself 
as  a  Whig  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  after  a  lengthy 
speech  by  an  opposing  candidate.) 

GENTLEMEN,  FELLOW-CITIZENS:  I  presume  you  all  know  who  I 
am.  I  am  humble  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  have  been  solicited  by 
many  friends  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature.  My 
politics  can  be  briefly  stated.  I  am  in  favor  of  a  national  bank. 
I  am  in  favor  of  the  internal  improvement  system,  and  a  high 
protective  tariff.  These  are  my  sentiments  and  political  prin- 
ciples. If  elected,  I  shall  be  thankful;  if  not,  it  will  be  all  the 
same. 


I  may  not  reach  the  heights  I  seek, 

My  untried  strength  may  fail  me; 
Or,  half-way  up  the  mountain  peak, 

Fierce  tempest  may  assail  me. 
But  though  that  place  I  never  gain, 
Herein  lies  comfort  for  my  pain, 
I  will  be  worthy  of  it. 

I  may  not  triumph  in  success, 

Despite  my  earnest  labor; 
I  may  not  grasp  results  that  bless 

The  efforts  of  my  neighbor. 
But  though  my  goal  I  never  see, 
This  thought  shall  always  dwell  with  me — 
/  will  be  worthy  of  it. 

The  golden  glorv  of  love's  light 
May  never  fall  upon  my  way; 
My  path  may  always  lead  through  night, 

Like  some  deserted  by-way. 
But  though  life's  dearest  joy  I  miss, 
There  lies  a  nameless  joy  in  this — 
/  will  be  worthy  of  it. 

— Ella  Wheeler  WUcox. 


34 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    27 

This  land  shall  fall  unto  you  for  inheritance.     Ezekiel  47  :  14. 


Jnijeritotg  of  f  tmtiammtal 

(Extract  from  an  address  delivered  January  27,  1838,  be- 
fore the  Young  Men's  Lyceum  at  Springfield,  Illinois.) 

In  the  great  journal  of  things  happening  under  the  sun,  the 
American  people  find  our  account  running  under  date  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  of  the  Christian  era.  We  find  ourselves  in  peace- 
ful possession  of  the  fairest  portion  of  the  earth  as  regards  extent 
of  territory,  fertility  of  soil,  and  salubrity  of  climate.  We  find 
ourselves  under  the  government  of  a  system  of  political  institu- 
tions conducing  more  essentially  to  the  ends  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  than  any  of  which  the  history  of  former  times  tells  us. 
We  find  ourselves  the  legal  inheritors  of  these  fundamental  bless- 
ings. We  toiled  not  in  the  acquirement  nor  the  establishment  of 
them;  they  are  a  legacy  bequeathed  to  us  by  a  once  hardy,  brave, 
and  patriotic,  but  now  lamented  and  departed  race  of  ancestors. 


Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said: 

"This  is  my  own.  my  native  landf" 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burned 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turned 

From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand  f 

— Sir    Walter    Scott. 


35 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    28 

The  nation  and  kingdom  that  will  not  serve  thee  shall  perish.     Isaiah 
60 :  12. 


%&  ftpptoatf)  of  SDanger. 

(Extract  from  the  Springfield  address  In  1838.    Continued 
from  preceding  page.) 

At  what  point  shall  be  we  expect  the  approach  of  danger?  Shall 
we  expect  some  transatlantic  military  giant  to  step  the  ocean  ancl 
crush  us  at  a  blow?  Never!  All  the  armies  of  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa  combined,  with  all  the  treasures  of  the  earth  (our  own 
excepted)  in  their  military  chest,  with  a  Bonaparte  for  a  com- 
mander, could  not,  by  force,  take  a  drink  from  the  Ohio,  or  make 
a  track  on  the  Blue  Ridge,  in  a  trial  of  a  thousand  years.  At 
what  point,  then,  is  this  approach  of  danger  to  be  expected?  I 
answer:  If  it  ever  reaches  us,  it  must  spring  up  amongst  us.  It 
cannot  come  from  abroad.  If  destruction  be  our  lot,  we  must 
ourselves  be  its  author  and  finisher.  As  a  nation  of  freemen,  v.e 
must  live  through  all  time  or  die  by  suicide. 


When  our  land  is  illumined  with  liberty's  smile, 
If  a  foe  from  within  strike  a  blow  at  her  glory, 

Down,  doicn  with  the  traitor  that  dares  to  defile 

The  flag  of  her  stars  and  the  pane  of  her  story ! 

By  the  millions  unchained  who  our  birthright  have  gained, 

We  will  keep  her  bright  blazon  forever  unstained! 

— Francis  Scott  Key. 


36 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY  29 

Then  Adonljah  the  son  of  Haggith  exalted  himself,  saying,  I  will  be 
king :  and  he  prepared  him  chariots  and  horsemen,  and  fifty  men  to  run 
before  him.  I.  Kings  1 :  5. 


(Efe  ntug. 

(Extract  from  Springfield  address.       Continued  from  pre- 
ceding page.) 

Towering  genius  disdains  a  beaten  path.  It  seeks  regions  hith- 
erto unexplored.  It  does  not  add  story  to  story  upon  the  monu- 
ments of  fame  erected  to  the  memory  of  others.  It  denies  that  it 
is  glory  enough  to  serve  under  any  chief.  It  scorns  to  tread  in 
the  footsteps  of  any  predecessor,  however  illustrious.  It  thirsts 
and  burns  for  distinction,  and,  if  possible,  will  have  it,  whether 
at  the  expense  of  emancipating  slaves,  or  enslaving  free  men. 
Is  it  unreasonable,  then,  to  expect  that  some  man  possessed  with 
the  loftiest  genius,  coupled  with  ambition  sufficient  to  push  it  to 
its  utmost  stench,  will  at  some  time  spring  up  among  us?  And 
when  such  an  one  does,  it  will  require  the  people  to  be  united, 
attached  to  the  government  and  laws,  and  generally  intelligent, 
to  successfully  frustrate  the  design. 


There  is  a  line  by  us  unseen, 

That  crosses  every  path; 
The  hidden  boundary  between 

God's  mercy  and  his  wrath. 

There  is  a  time,  we  know  not  when, 

A  place,  we  know  not  where, 
Which  seals  the  destiny  of  men 

To  glory  or  despair. 

— Dr.    Alexander. 


37 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY  30 

None  of  these  things  move  me.  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  my- 
self, so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy.     Acts  20 :  24. 


3n  t&e  ^anfcg  of  tjje 


(Interview  published  in  the  New  York   Tribune,  January 
30,  1861.) 

I  will  suffer  death  before  I  will  consent  or  advise  my  friends  to 
consent  to  any  concession  or  compromise  which  looks  like  buying 
the  privilege  of  taking  possession  of  the  Government  to  which  we 
have  a  constitutional  right;  because,  whatever  I  might  think  of 
the  merit  of  the  various  propositions  before  Congress,  I  should 
regard  any  concession  in  the  face  of  menace  as  the  destruction  of 
the  Government  itself,  and  a  consent  on  all  hands  that  our  system 
shall  be  brought  down  to  a  level  with  the  existing  disorganized 
state  of  affairs  in  Mexico.  But  this  thing  will  hereafter  be,  as  it 
is  now,  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  if  they  desire  to  call  a 
convention  to  remove  any  grievances  complained  of,  or  to  give 
new  guarantees  for  the  permanence  of  vested  rights,  it  is  not 
mine  to  oppose. 


God  give  us  men! 

A  time  like  this  demands 

Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith  and  ready  hands; 

Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill ; 
Men  whom  the  spoils  of,  office  cannot  buy ; 

Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will; 
Men  who  have  honor;  men  icho  will  not  lie; 

Men  who  can  stand  before  a  demagogue 
And  scorn  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  winking; 

Tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 
In  public  duty  and  in  private  thinking. 

— J.  G.  Holland. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JANUARY    31 

Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.     Matthew  6 :  34. 


jfa£  Kftrr. 

(To  a  Springfield  neighbor,  a  minister  who  wished  to  know 
as  to  his  future  policy  on  the  slavery  question.) 

You  know  Father  B.,  the  old  Methodist  preacher?  and  you 
know  Fox  River  and  its  freshets?  Well,  once  in  the  presence  of 
Father  B.,  a  young  Methodist  was  worrying  about  Fox  River,  and 
expressing  fears  that  he  should  be  prevented  from  filling  some 
of  his  appointments  by  a  freshet  in  the  river.  Father  B.  checked 
him  in  his  gravest  manner.  Said  he,  "Young  man,  I  have  always 
made  it  a  rule  in  my  life  not  to  cross  Fox  River  till  I  get  to  it." 
And  I  am  not  going  to  worry  myself  over  the  slavery  question  till 
I  get  to  it. 


Too  curious  man,  ichy  dost  thou  seek  to  know 
Events  which,  good  or  ill,  foreknow-n,  or  woef 
Th'  all-seeing  power  that  made  thee  mortal,  gave 
Thee  everything  a  mortal  state  should  have; 
Foreknoicledge  only  is  enjoy'd  by  heaven; 
And,  for  his  peace  of  mind,  to  man  forbidden: 
Wretched  were  life,  if  he  foreknew  his  doom; 
Even  joys  forseen  give  pleasing  hope  no  room, 
And  griefs  assur'd  are  felt  before  they  come. 

— Drydcn. 


39 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY     1 

Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  In  his  business?  he  sliall  stand  before  kings; 
he  shall  not  stand  before  mean  men.     Proverbs  22  :  29. 


C5ammrntiati0n0  from  Eiterarp  and  Eearnrli 

(To  Rev.  J.  P.  Gulliver,  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  in  1860.) 

A  most  extraordinary  circumstance  occurred  in  New  Haven  the 
other  day.  They  told  me  that  the  professor  of  rhetoric  in  Yale 
College — a  very  learned  man,  isn't  he?  well,  he  ought  to  be,  at 
any  rate — they  told  me  that  he  came  to  hear  me,  and  took  notes 
of  my  speech,  and  gave  a  lecture  on  it  to  his  class  the  next  day; 
and  not  satisfied  with  that,  he  followed  me  up  to  Meriden  the 
next  evening,  and  heard  me  again  for  the  same  purpose.  Now,  if 
this  is  so,  it  is  to  my  mind  very  extraordinary.  I  have  been 
sufficiently  astonished  at  my  success  in  the  West.  It  has  been 
most  unexpected.  But  I  had  no  thought  of  any  marked  success 
at  the  East,  and  least  of  all  that  I  should  draw  out  such  com- 
mendations from  literary  and  learned  men. 


Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 

Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time; 
Footprints,  that  perhaps  another, 

8a/iling  o'er  life's  solemn   main, 
A  forlorn  and  shipwrecked  brother, 

Seeing,  may  take  heart  again. 

— Longfellow. 


40 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  2   (Ground   Hog:  Day) 

A   prudent    man   foreseeth  the   evil.      Proverbs   22 : 3. 


l&oot  ^og;,  or  2Dfe. 


(In  reply  to  Mr.  Hunter,  February  3,  1865,  who  stated 
that  as  slaves  were  accustomed  to  work  under  compulsion, 
by  being  suddenly  freed  It  would  bring  ruin  on  the  South,  and 
whites  and  blacks  would  starve  together.) 

I  can  only  say,  in  reply  to  your  statement  of  the  case,  that  it 
reminds  me  of  a  man  out  in  Illinois,  by  the  name  of  Case,  who 
undertook,  a  few  years  ago,  to  raise  a  very  large  herd  of  hogs. 
It  was  a  great  trouble  to  feed  them;  and  how  to  get  around  this 
was  a  puzzle  to  him.  At  length  he  hit  upon  the  plan  of  planting 
an  immense  field  of  potatoes,  and,  when  they  were  sufficiently 
grown,  he  turned  the  whole  herd  into  the  field  and  let  them  have 
full  swing,  thus  saving  not  only  the  labor  of  feeding  the  hogs, 
but  that  also  of  digging  the  potatoes!  Charmed  with  his  sagacity, 
he  stood  one  day  leaning  against  the  fence,  counting  his  hogs, 
when  a  neighbor  came  along.  "Well,  well,"  said  he,  "Mr.  Case, 
this  is  all  very  fine.  Your  hogs  are  doing  very  well  just  now; 
but  you  know  out  here  in  Illinois  the  frost  comes  early,  and  the 
ground  freezes  a  foot  deep.  Then  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 
This  was  a  view  of  the  matter  which  Mr.  Case  had  not  taken  into 
account.  Butchering  time  for  hogs  was  away  on  in  December  or 
January.  He  scratched  his  head  and  at  length  stammered,  "Well, 
it  may  come  pretty  hard  on  their  snouts,  but  I  don't  see  but  it 
will  be  root,  hog,  or  die." 


Prudence,  thou  vainly  in  our  youth  art  sought, 
And  with  age  purchas'd,  art  too  dearly  bought: 
We  're  past  the  use  of  wit  for  which  we  toil: 
Late  fruit,  and  planted  in  too  cold  a  soil. 

— Dryden. 


41 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  3 

Wisdom  is  a  defence,  and  money  is  a  defence :  but  the  excellency  of 
knowledge  is,  that  wisdom  giveth  life  to  them  that  have  it.  Eccleslastes 
7:12. 


Support  anb  2Def*n0r. 

(Extract     from     address    before     Young    Men's     Lyceum, 
Springfield,  Illinois,  January,  1838.) 

Reason — cold,  calculating,  unimpassionate  reason — must  fur- 
nish all  the  materials  for  our  support  and  defense.  Let  those 
materials  be  molded  into  general  intelligence,  sound  morality, 
and,  in  particular,  a  reverence  for  the  Constitution  and  the  laws; 
and  then  our  country  shall  continue  to  improve,  and  our  nation, 
revering  his  name,  and  permitting  no  hostile  foot  to  pass  or  dese- 
crate his  resting-place,  shall  be  the  first  to  hear  the  last  trump 
that  shall  awaken  our  Washington.  Upon  these  let  the  proud 
fabric  of  freedom  rest  as  the  rock  of  its  basis,  and,  as  truly  as 
has  been  said  of  the  only  greater  institution,  "the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it." 


Defend  us,  Lord,  from  every  ill; 
Strengthen  our  hearts  to  do  thy  will; 
In  all  we  plan  and  all  we  do, 
Still  keep  us  to  thy  service  true. 

Thou  who  art  Light,  shine  on  each  soul! 
Thou  who  art  Truth,  each  mind  contrail 
Open  our  eyes,  and  make  us  see 
The  path  which  leads  to  heaven  and  theet 

— John  Hay. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY     4 

And  they  shall   make  a  spoil   of  thy  riches,  and   make  a  prey  of  thy 
merchandise.      Ezekiel   26  :  12. 


e  traitor  jforf  tit&  ifyte 


(His   views  on   the   Confiscation   Act,   passed   by   Congress 
and  approved  by  the  President,  July  17,   1862.) 

It  is  startling  to  say  that  Congress  can  free  a  slave  within  a 
State,  and  yet  were  it  said  that  the  ownership  of  a  slave  had 
f.rst  been  transferred  to  the  nation,  and  that  Congress  had  then 
liberated  him,  the  difficulty  would  vanish;  and  this  is  the  real 
case.  The  traitor  against  the  general  Government  forfeits  his 
slave  at  least  as  justly  as  he  does  any  other  property,  and  he  for- 
feits both  to  the  Government  against  which  he  offends.  The 
Government,  so  far  as  there  can  be  ownership,  owns  the  forfeited 
slaves,  and  the  question  for  Congress  in  regard  to  them  is,  Shall 
they  be  made  free  or  sold  to  new  masters?  I  see  no  objection  to 
Congress  deciding  in  advance  that  they  shall  be  free. 


You  have  among  you  many  a  purchased  slave. 
Which,  like  your  asses,  and  your  dogs,  and  mules, 
You  use  in  abject  and  in  slavish  parts 
Because  you  bought  them. 

— Shakespeare. 


43 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY     5 

Let  judgment  be  executed  speedily  upon  him,  whether  It  be  unto  death, 
or  to  banishment,  or  to  confiscation  of  goods,  or  to  imprisonment.  Ezra 
7:26. 


tfir  Cost  of  a  Cau0elt0d  fldar. 

(In  defense  of  the  Confiscation  Act,  passed  by  Congress, 
July   17,   1862.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

That  those  who  make  a  causeless  war  should  be  compelled  to 
pay  the  cost  of  it,  is  too  obviously  just  to  be  called  in  question. 
To  give  Government  protection  to  the  property  of  persons  who 
have  abandoned  it,  and  gone  on  a  crusade  to  overthrow  the  same 
Government,  is  absurd,  if  considered  in  the  mere  light  of  justice. 
The  severest  justice  may  not  always  be  the  best  policy.  ...  I 
think  our  military  commanders,  when,  in  military  phrase,  they 
are  within  the  enemy's  country,  should,  in  an  orderly  manner, 
seize  and  keep  whatever  of  real  or  personal  property  may  be 
necessary  or  convenient  for  their  commands,  and  at  the  same 
time  preserve  in  some  way  the  evidence  of  what  they  do. 


And  many  an  old  man's  sigh,  and  many  a  widow's, 
And  many  an  orphan's  water-standing  eye — 
Men  for  their  sons',  wives  for  their  husbands'  fate, 
And  orphans  for  their  parents'  timeless  death, — 
Shall  rue  the  hour  that  ever  thou  wast  born. 

— Shakespeare. 


44 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY     6 

My  soul  is  weary  of  my  life ;  I  will  leave  my  complaint  upon  myself ;  I 
will  speak  in  the  bitterness  of  my  soul.     Job.  10 :  1. 


Position  te  |M  a  25t&  of 

(To  an  old  and  intimate  friend  from  Springfield,  Illinois.) 

You  know  better  than  any  man  living  that  from  my  boyhood 
up  my  ambition  was  to  be  President.  I  am  President  of  one  part 
of  this  divided  country  at  least;  but  look  at  me!  Oh,  I  wish  I 
had  never  been  born!  I  've  a  white  elephant  on  my  hands,  one 
hard  to  manage.  With  a  fire  in  my  front  and  rear  to  contend 
with,  the  jealousies  of  the  military  commanders,  and  not  receiv- 
ing that  cordial  cooperative  support  from  Congress  that  could 
reasonably  be  expected,  with  an  active  and  formidable  enemy  in 
the  field  threatening  the  very  life-blood  of  the  Government,  my 
position  is  anything  but  a  bed  of  roses. 


Alas!  I  have  not  words  to  tell  my  grief; 
To  vent  my  sorrow  would  be  some  relief; 
Light  sufferings  give  us  leisure  to  complain; 
We  groan,  but  cannot  speak,  in  greater  pain. 

— Dryden. 


45 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY    7 

The  mighty  man,    .    .    .    the  judge,    .    .   .    the  counsellor,    .    .    .    and  the 
eloquent  orator.     Isaiah  3:2,  3. 


(The  following  generous  allusion  was  made  to  Honorable 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  a  speech  in  1856.) 

Twenty  years  ago  Judge  Douglas  and  I  first  became  acquainted. 
We  were  both  young  then,  he  a  trifle  younger  than  I.  Even  then 
we  were  both  ambitious — I,  perhaps,  quite  as  much  as  he.  With 
me  the  race  of  ambition  has  been  a  failure.  With  him  it  has 
been  a  splendid  success.  His  name  fills  the  nation,  and  it  is  not 
unknown  in  foreign  lands.  I  affect  no  contempt  for  the  high 
eminence  he  has  reached;  so  reached  that  the  oppressed  of  my 
species  might  have  shared  with  me  in  the  elevation,  I  would 
rather  stand  on  that  eminence  that  wear  the  richest  crown  that 
ever  pressed  a  monarch's  brow. 


The  boost  o.f  heraldry,  the  pomp  of  power, 

And  all  that  be.auty,  all  that  wealth  e'er  gave. 

Await  alike  the  inevitable  hour ; 

The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave. 

— Gray. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  8 

Let  us  behave  ourselves  valiantly  for  our  people.     I.  Chronicles  19 :  13. 


Sin  £Dbr rmatrf), 

(To  Brigadier-General  Buell,  January  13,  1862,  in  answer 
to  a  dispatch.) 

With  this  preliminary  I  state  my  general  idea  of  this  war  to  be, 
that  we  have  the  greater  numbers  and  the  enemy  has  the  greater 
facility  of  concentrating  forces  upon  points  of  collision;  that  we 
must  fail  unless  we  can  find  some  way  of  making  our  advantage 
an  overmatch  for  his;  and  that  this  can  only  be  done  by  men- 
acing him  with  superior  forces  at  different  points  at  the  same 
time,  so  that  we  can  safely  attack  one  or  both  if  he  makes  no 
change;  and  if  he  weakens  one,  to  strengthen  the  other,  forbear 
to  attack  the  strengthened  one,  but  seize  and  hold  the  weakened 
one,  gaining  so  much. 


Then,  in  the  name  of  God,  and  all  these  rights, 

Advance  your  standards,  draw  your  willing  swords: 

For  me  the  ransom  of  my  bold  attempt 

Shall  be  this  cold  corse  on  the  earth's  bold  face; 

But  if  I  thrive,  the  gain  of  my  attempt 

The  least  of  you  shall  share  his  part  thereof. 

— Shakespeare. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


.  .  FEBRUARY   9 

The   memory   of   the  Just    is   blessed.     Proverbs   10  :  7. 


(General 

(Said  while  examining  some  court-martial  cases,  and  writ- 
Ing  the  date  February  9,  1864.) 

Does  your  mind,  Judge  Holt,  associate  events  with  dates? 
Every  time  this  morning  that  I  have  had  occasion  to  write  the 
day  of  the  month,  the  thought  has  come  up,  This  is  General  Har- 
rison's birthday. 


Hail,  memory,  hail!  in  all  thy  exhaustlexs  mine, 
From  age  to  age  unnumbered  treasures  shine! 
Thought  and  her  shadowy  brood  thy  call  obey. 
And  place  and  time  are  subject  to  thy  sicay  ! 

Lull'd  in  the  countless  chambers  of  the  brain. 
Our  thoughts  are  UnJc'd  by  many  a  hidden  chain, 
Awake  but  one,  and  lo,  what  myriads  rise! 
Each   stamps  its  image  as  the  other  flics! 

— Rogers. 


48 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  10 

Riches   certainly   make  themselves   wings ;   they   fly   away   as   an  eagle 
toward  heaven.     Proverbs  23  :  5. 


£Deab  Ho00  (or 

(Decision  rendered  February  11,  1864,  as  to  the  liability 
of  the  Government  to  pay  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  in 
greenback  notes  lost  by  a  coachman  by  fire  at  the  mansion 
stables,  February  10,  1864.  Case  submitted  by  Robert  Lin- 
coln.) 

The  payment  of  a  note  presupposes  its  presentation  to  the 
maker  of  it.  It  is  the  sign  or  symbol  of  value  received;  it  is  not 
value  itself,  that  is  clear.  At  the  same  time  the  production  of  the 
note  seems  a  necessary  warrant  for  the  demand;  and  while  the 
moral  obligation  is  as  strong  without  this,  governments  and 
banking  institutions  do  not  recognize  any  principle  beyond  the 
strictly  legal.  It  is  an  established  rule  that  the  citizen  cannot 
sue  the  Government;  therefore,  I  don't  see  but  that  it  is  a  dead 
less  for  Jehu. 


Riches,  like  insects,  while  conceal'd  they  lie, 
Wait  but  for  wings,  and  in  their  season  fly; 
To  whom  can  riches  give  repute  and  trust, 
Content  or  pleasure,  but  the  good  and  justt 
Judges  and  senates  have  been  bought  for  gold, 
.Esteem  and  love  are  never  to  be  sold. 


49 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY   11 

The  eternal  God  Is  thy  refuge,  and  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms. 
Deuteronomy  33  :  27. 


Sin  flfftctionate  jfaretodl. 

(Farewell  address  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  standing  on  the 
car  platform,  January  11,  1861.) 

MY  FRIENDS:  No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  appreciate  the 
sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  I  am. 
Here  I  have  lived  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century;  here  my 
children  were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried.  I  know  not 
how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves  upon  me  which 
is,  perhaps,  greater  than  that  which  has  devolved  upon  any  other 
man  since  the  days  of  Washington.  He  never  could  have  suc- 
ceeded except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon  which  he  at 
all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same 
divine  aid  which  sustained  him;  and  in  the  same  Almighty-Being 
I  place  my  reliance  for  support,  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will 
all  pray  that  I  may  receive  that  divine  assistance,  without  which 
I  cannot  succeed.  Again,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell. 


When  forced  to  part  from  those  we  lore, 

Though  sure  to  meet  to-morrow, 
We  yet  a  kind  of  anguish  "prove, 

And  with  a  touch  of  sorrow. 
But  oh!  what  words  can  paint  the  fears 

When  from  those  friends  we  sever 
Perhaps  to  part  for  months — for  years — 

Perhaps  to  part  forever. 

— Anonymous. 


50 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY    12     (Lincoln's    Birthday) 

Oh  my  Lord,  wherewith  shall  I  save  Israel  ?  behold,  my  family  is  poor. 
Judges  6  :  15. 


(To  Mr.  J.  L.  Scripps.) 

My  early  history  is  perfectly  characterized  by  a  single  line  of 
Gray's  Elegy,  "The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor." 

(To   Honorable   J.   W.   Fell,  in   1859.) 

I  was  born  February  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky. 
My  parents  were  both  born  in  Virginia,  of  undistinguished  fam- 
ilies, second  families,  perhaps  I  should  say.  My  mother,  who 
died  in  my  tenth  year,  was  of  a  family  by  the  name  of  Hanks. 
.  .  .  My  father,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  was  but  six  years  of 
age,  and  grew  up  literally  without  any  education.  He  removed 
from  Kentucky  to  what  is  now  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  in  my 
eighth  year.  We  reached  our  new  home  about  the  time  the  State 
came  into  the  Union.  It  was  a  wild  region,  with  many  bears,  and 
other  wild  animals  still  in  the  woods.  There  I  grew  up.  There 
were  some  schools,  so  called,  but  no  qualification  was  ever  re- 
quired of  a  teacher  beyond  "readin',  writin',  and  cipherin'  to  the 
rule  of  three."  If  a  straggler,  supposed  to  understand  Latin, 
happened  to  sojourn  in  the  neighborhood,  he  was  looked  upon  as 
a  wizard.  There  was  absolutely  nothing  to  excite  ambition  for 
education.  Of  course  when  I  came  of  age  I  did  not  know  much. 
Still,  somehow,  I  could  read,  write,  and  cipher  to  the  rule  of 
three,  but  that  was  all.  I  have  not  been  in  school  since.  The 
little  advance  I  now  have  upon  this  store  of  education  I  have 
picked  up  from  time  to  time  under  the  pressure  of  necessity. 


From  out  the  hillside  hovel  came 

An  infant's  wail,  which  proved  the  key 

Of  songs  of  freedom  yet  to  be. 

To  drown  the  groans — a  nation's  shame. 

— Ben   D.   House. 
51 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY    13 

I  had  rather  speak  five  words  with  my  understanding,  that  by  my  voice 
I  might  teach  others  also,  than  ten  thousand  words  in  an  unknown 
tongue.  I.  Corinthians  14  :  19. 


Coercion  anU  3nba0ion. 

(From  speech  at  Indianapolis,  before  the  Legislature,  Feb- 
ruary 11,  1861.) 

Solomon  says  there  is  "a  time  to  keep  silence";  and  when  men 
wrangle  by  the  mouth  with  no  certainty  that  they  mean  the  same 
thing,  while  using  the  same  word,  it  perhaps  were  as  well  if  they 
would  keep  silence.  The  words  "coercion"  and  "invasion"  are 
much  used  in  these  days,  and  often  with  some  temper  and  hot 
blood.  Let  us  make  sure,  if  we  can,  that  we  do  not  misunder- 
stand the  meaning  of  those  who  use  them.  Let  us  get  the  exact 
definition  of  these  words,  not  from  dictionaries,  but  from  the 
men  themselves,  who  certainly  depreciate  the  things  they  would 
represent  by  the  use  of  the  words.  What,  then,  is  "coercion"? 
What  is  "invasion"?  Would  the  marching  of  an  army  into  South 
Carolina,  without  the  consent  of  her  people,  and  with  hostile  in- 
tent toward  them,  be  an  "invasion"?  I  certainly  think  it  would; 
and  it  would  be  "coercion"  also  if  the  South  Carolinians  were 
forced  to  submit. 


"T  is  only  man  can  create, 

And  cut  the  air  to  sounds  articulate 

By  nature's  special  charter.     Nay,  speech  can 

Make  a  shrewd  discrepance  'twixt  man  and  man: 

It  doth  the  gentleman  from  clown  discover: 

And  -from  a  fool  the  grave  philosopher; 

\s  Solon  said  to  one  in  judgment  weak, 

•7  thought  thee  wise  until  I  heard  thee  speak." 

— James  Howell. 


52 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY    14    (Valentine    Day) 

The  maid  was  fair  and  beautiful.     Esther  2 :  7. 


Beginning;  of  Eobt 

(To  an  acquaintance  in  Springfield,  Illinois.) 

Did  you  ever  write  out  a  story  in  your  mind?  I  did  when  I  was 
a  little  codger.  One  day  a  wagon  with  a  lady  and  two  girls  and 
a  man  broke  down  near  us,  and  while  they  were  fixing  up,  they 
cooked  in  our  kitchen.  The  woman  had  books  and  read  us  stories, 
and  they  were  the  first  I  ever  had  heard.  I  took  a  great  fancy  to 
one  of  the  girls;  and  when  they  were  gone  I  thought  of  her  a 
great  deal,  and  one  day  when  I  was  sitting  out  in  the  sun  by  the 
house  I  wrote  out  a  story  in  my  mind.  I  thought  I  took  my 
father's  horse  and  followed  the  wagon,  and  finally  I  found  it,  and 
they  were  surprised  to  see  me.  I  talked  with  the  girl  and  per- 
suaded her  to  elope  with  me;  and  that  night  I  put  her  on  my 
horse,  and  we  started  off  across  the  prairie.  After  several  hours 
we  came  to  a  camp,  and  when  we  rode  up  we  found  it  was  the 
one  we  had  left  a  few  hours  before,  and  we  went  in.  The  next 
night  we  tried  it  again,  and  the  same  thing  happened — the  horse 
came  back  to  the  same  place;  and  then  we  concluded  that  we 
ought  not  to  elope.  I  stayed  until  I  had  persuaded  her  father  to 
give  her  to  me.  I  always  meant  to  write  that  story  out  and  pub- 
lish it,  and  I  began  once;  but  I  concluded  it  was  not  much  of  a 
story.  But  I  think  that  was  the  beginning  of  love  with  me. 


Oft  have  I  heard  both  youths  and  virgins  say, 
Birds  choose  their  mates,  and  couple  too,  this  day; 
But  by  their  flight  I  never  can  divine 
When  I  shall  couple  with  my  Valentine. 

—He 


53 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  15 

The  whole   land    is   made   desolate.     Jeremiah   12 : 11. 


SDtetracted  Condition  ot  t&e  Country 

(Before   the    Mayor    and    Common    Council    of    Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania,  February  15.  1861.) 

In  every  short  address  I  have  made  to  the  people,  in  every 
crowd  through  which  I  have  passed,  of  late,  some  allusion  has 
been  made  to  the  distracted  condition  of  the  country.  It  is  natu- 
ral to  expect  that  I  should  say  something  on  this  subject;  but  to 
touch  upon  it  all  would  involve  an  elaborate  discussion  of  a  great 
many  questions  and  circumstances,  requiring  more  time  than  I 
can  at  present  command,  and  would,  perhaps,  commit  me  upon 
matters  that  have  not  yet  fully  developed  themselves.  The  con- 
dition of  the  country  is  an  extraordinary  one,  and  fills  the  mind 
of  every  patriot  with  anxiety.  It  is  my  intention  to  give  this 
subject  all  the  consideration  I  possibly  can  before  especially  de- 
ciding in  regard  to  it,  so  that  when  I  do  speak,  I  hope  I  may  say 
nothing  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  contrary 
to  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  or  which  will  prove  inimical  to  the 
liberties  of  the  people  or  to  the  peace  of  the  whole  country. 


When  shall  the  deadly  hate  of  faction  cease. 

When  shall  our  long-divided  land  have  rest, 

If  every  peevish,  moody  malcontent 

Shall  set  the  senseless  rabble  in  an  uproar f 

Fright  them  with  dangers,  and  perplex  their  brains 

Each  day  with  some  fantastic  giddy  change  f 


54 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  16 

On  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men.    Luke  2  : 14. 

Cordial  (Boon  mill 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  February  12,  1861.) 

In  a  few  short  years  I  and  every  other  individual  man  who  is 
now  living  will  pass  away.  I  hope  that  our  national  difficulties 
will  also  pass  away,  and  I  hope  we  shall  see  in  the  streets  of  Cin- 
cinnati— good  old  Cincinnati — for  centuries  to  come,  once  every 
four  years,  the  people  give  such  a  reception  as  this  to  the  consti- 
tutionally elected  President  of  the  whole  United  States.  I  hope 
you  will  all  join  in  that  reception,  and  that  you  will  also  wel- 
come your  brethren  across  the  river  to  participate  in  it.  We  shall 
welcome  them  in  every  State  in  the  Union,  no  matter  where  they 
are  from.  From  away  South,  we  shall  extend  to  them  a  cordial 
good  will,  when  our  present  differences  shall  have  been  forgotten 
and  blown  to  the  winds  forever. 


If  I  unwittingly,  or  in  my  rage, 

Have  aught  committed  that  is  hardly  borne 

By  any  in  this  presence,  I  desire 

To  reconcile  me  to  his  friendly  peace: 

'T  is  death  to  me  to  be  at  enmity; 

I  hate  it,  and  desire  all  good  men's  love. 


55 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY    17 

Behold,  the  people  shall  rise  up  as  a  great   line.     Numbers  23 :  24. 


People  l&tee  in 

(Extract  from  address  to  citizens  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana, 
February  11,  1861.) 

Of  the  people,  when  they  rise  in  mass  in  behalf  of  the  Union,  and 
the  liberties  of  their  country,  truly  may  it  be  said,  "The  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  them."  In  all  trying  positions  in 
which  I  shall  be  placed,  and,  doubtless,  I  shall  be  placed  in  many 
such,  my  reliance  will  be  placed  upon  you  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States;  and  I  wish  you  to  remember,  now  and  forever, 
that  it  is  your  business,  and  not  mine;  that  if  the  Union  of  these 
States  and  the  liberties  of  this  people  shall  be  lost,  it  is  but  little 
to  any  one  man  of  fifty-two  years  of  age,  but  a  great  deal  to  the 
thirty  millions  of  people  who  inhabit  these  United  States,  and  to 
their  posterity  in  all  coming  time. 


They  need  no  urging  to  stir  them  on, 

They  yearn  for  us  no  battle  cry; 
At  the  word  that  their  country  calls  for  men 
They  throw  down  hammer,  scythe,  and  pen, 

And  are  ready  to  serve  and  diet 

— Barry. 


56 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY    18 

lie  that  shall   humble  himself  shall    be  exalted.      Matthew  23  :  12. 


of  HU  t§ 

(Extract  from  speech  to  the  Legislature  at  Albany,  New 
York,  February  18,  1861.) 

It  is  true  that  while  I  hold  myself,  without  mock  modesty,  the 
humblest  of  all  the  individuals  who  have  ever  been  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  I  yet  have  a  more  difficult  task  to  per- 
form than  any  one  of  them  has  ever  yet  encountered. 


Hoir  humble,  yet  how  hopeful  he  could  be, 

How,  in  good  fortune  and  in  ill,  the  same; 
Nor  bitter  in  success,  nor  boastful  he, 

Thirsty  for  goal,  nor  feverish  for  fame. 

He  went  about  his  work — such  work  as  few 

Ever  laid  on  head  and  heart  and  hand — 
As  one  who  knows  where  there  's  a  task  to  do — 

Man's  honest  will  must  Heaven's  good  grace  command. 

— Tom  Taylor. 


67 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  19 

Let  us  stand  together.     Isaiah  50  :  8. 


Common  Cauge  tot 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  Feb- 
ruary 19,  1861.) 

These  receptions  have  been  given  me  at  other  places,  and  as 
here,  by  men  of  different  parties,  and  not  by  one  party  alone.  It 
shows  an  earnest  effort  on  the  part  of  all  to  save,  not  the  country, 
for  the  country  can  save  itself,  but  to  save  the  institutions  of  the 
country — those  institutions  under  which,  for  at  least  three-quar- 
ters of  a  century,  we  have  become  the  greatest,  the  most  intelli- 
gent, and  the  happiest  people  in  the  world.  These  manifestations 
show  that  we  all  make  common  cause  for  these  objects;  that  if 
some  of  them  are  successful  in  an  election  and  others  are  beaten, 
those  who  are  beaten  are  not  in  favor  of  sinking  the  ship  in  con- 
sequence of  defeat,  but  are  earnest  in  their  purpose  to  sail  it 
safely  through  the  voyage  in  hand,  and,  insofar  as  they  may 
think  there  has  been  any  mistake  in  the  election,  satisfying  them- 
selves to  take  their  chance  at  setting  the  matter  right  the  next 
time.  This  course  is  entirely  right. 


Our  country  first,  their  glory  and  their  pride, 
Land  of  their  hopes,  land  where  their  fathers  died, 
When  in  the  right,  they  'II  keep  thy  honor  bright; 
When  in  the  wrong,  they  'II  die  to  set  it  right. 

— James  T.  Fields. 


58 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY   20 

The   child   is   not;    and   I,    whither   shall    I   go?     Genesis   37:30. 


,  mnut. 

(Died  February  20,   1862,  aged  twelve  years.) 

(To   Colonel   Cannon.) 

Colonel,  did  you  ever  dream  of  a  lost  friend,  and  feel  that  you 
were  holding  sweet  communion  with  that  friend,  and  yet  have  a 
sad  consciousness  that  it  was  not  a  reality?  Just  so  I  dream  of 
my  boy,  Willie. 

(To  a  Christian   lady.) 

I  had  lived  until  my  boy,  Willie,  died,  without  realizing  fully 
these  things.  That  blow  overwhelmed  me.  It  showed  me  my 
weakness  as  I  had  never  felt  it  before,  and  if  I  can  take  what 
you  have  stated  as  a  test,  I  think  I  can  safely  say  that  I  know 
something  of  that  change  of  which  you  speak;  and  I  will  further 
add,  that  it  has  been  my  intention  for  some  time,  at  a  suitable 
opportunity,  to  make  a  public  religious  profession. 


Love  is  the  golden  chain  that  binds 

The  happy  souls  above; 
And  he  's  an  heir  of  heaven  that  finds 

His  bosom  glow  with  love. 

— Charles   Sicain. 


59 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 

FEBRUARY  21 

I  understood  as  a  child,  I  thought  as  a  child.     I.  Corinthians  13 : 11. 


at  Trenton. 

(Extract   of   speech   before   the    Senate   at   Trenton,    New 
Jersey,   February  21,  1861.) 

May  I  be  pardoned  if,  upon  this  occasion,  I  mention  that  away 
back  in  my  childhood,  the  earliest  days  of  my  being  able  to  read, 
I  got  hold  of  a  small  book,  such  a  one  as  few  of  the  younger  mem- 
bers have  ever  seen,  "Weem's  Life  of  Washington."  I  remember  all 
the  accounts  there  given  of  the  battlefields  and  the  struggles  for 
the  liberties  of  the  country,  and  none  fixed  themselves  upon  my 
imagination  so  deeply  as  the  struggle  here  at  Trenton,  New  Jer- 
sey. The  crossing  of  the  river,  the  contest  with  the  Hessians,  the 
great  hardships  endured  at  that  time,  all  fixed  themselves  in  my 
memory,  more  than  any  single  revolutionary  event;  and  you  all 
know,  for  you  have  all  been  boys,  how  those  early  impressions 
last  longer  than  any  others.  I  recollect  thinking  then,  boy  even 
though  I  was,  that  there  must  have  been  something  more  than 
common  that  these  men  struggled  for. 


/  love  to  learn  their  story, 

Who  suffered  for  my  sake, 
To  emulate  their  glory, 

And  •follow  in  their  wake; 
Bards,  patriots,  martyrs,  sages, 
The  noble  of  all  ages, 
Whose  deeds  crown  history's  pages, 

And  Time's  great  volume  make. 

— Banks. 


60 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOS: 


FEBRUARY    22    (Washington's    Birthday) 

The  righteous  shall  be  In  everlasting  remembrance.     Psalms  112  :  6. 


(Address  at   Springfield,    Illinois,   February  22,   1842.) 

This  is  the  one  hundred  and  tenth  anniversary  of  the  birthday 
of  Washington.  We  are  met  to  celebrate  this  day.  Washington 
is  the  mightiest  name  of  earth — long  since  mightiest  in  moral 
reformation.  On  that  name  a  eulogy  is  expected.  It  cannot  be. 
To  add  brightness  to  the  sun  or  glory  to  the  name  of  Washington 
it  alike  impossible.  Let  none  attempt  it.  In  solemn  awe  pro- 
nounce the  name,  and  in  its  naked,  deathless  splendor  leave  it 
shining  on. 


As  "flrst  in  war,  first  in  peace," 

As  patriot,  father,  friend — 
He  will  be  blessed  till  time  shall  cease, 

And  earthly  life  shall  end. 

— Anonymout. 


61 


THE  LINCOLN  TSAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  23 

I  am  for  peace  :  but  when  I  speak,  they  are  for  war.     Psalms  120 :  7. 


of  flZUat, 

(Conclusion   of   address  on    raising  flag  on   Independence 
Hall,  Philadelphia,   February  22,   1861.     See  July  4.) 

In  my  view  of  the  present  aspect  of  affairs,  there  is  no  need  of 
bloodshed  and  war.  There  is  no  necessity  for  it.  I  am  not  in 
favor  of  such  a  course,  and  I  may  say,  in  advance,  that  there  will 
be  no  bloodshed  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  Government.  The 
Government  will  not  use  force  unless  force  is  used  against  it.  My 
friends,  this  is  a  wholly  unprepared  speech.  I  did  not  expect  to 
be  called  upon  to  say  a  word  when  I  came  here.  I  supposed  I  was 
to  do  something  toward  raising  this  flag.  I  may,  therefore,  have 
said  something  indiscreet;  but  I  have  said  nothing  but  what  I 
am  willing  to  live  by,  and  in  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  to 
die  by. 


O  war,  'begot  in  pride  and  luxury, 

The  child  of  malice  and  revengeful  hate; 
Thou  impious  good,  and  good  impiety! 

Thou  art  the  foul  refiner  of  a  state, 
Unjust  scourge  of  men's  iniquity, 
Sharpeaser  of  corruptions  desperate  I 
Is  there  no  means  but  a  sin-sick  land 
Must  be  let  blood  with  such  a  boisterous  handt 

— Daniel. 


62 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  24 

Shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?     Genesis  18  :  25. 


jpmal  {JTrtumpI)  of 

(To   Rev.  Alexander  Reed,    Superintendent  of  the   United 
States  Christian  Commission,  February  22,  1863.) 

Whatever  shall  be,  sincerely  and  in  God's  name,  devised  for 
the  good  of  the  soldiers  and  seamen  in  their  hard  sphere  of 
duty,  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  blessed;  and  whatever  shall  tend  to 
turn  our  thoughts  from  the  unreasonable  and  uncharitable  pas- 
sions, prejudices,  and  jealousies  incident  to  a  great  national 
trouble  such  as  ours,  and  to  fix  them  on  the  vast  and  long-endur- 
ing consequences,  for  weal  or  for  woe,  which  are  to  result  from 
the  struggle,  and  especially  to  strengthen  our  reliance  on  the 
Supreme  Being  for  the  final  triumph  of  the  right,  cannot  but  be 
well  for  us  all.  The  birthday  of  Washington  and  the  Christian 
Sabbath  coinciding  this  year,  and  suggesting  together  the  highest 
interests  of  this  life  and  of  that  to  come,  is  most  propitious  for 
the  meeting  proposed. 


Let  us  fight  for  the  right,  though  the  struggle  be  long, 

With  firm  and  unswerving  desire; 
Let  us  manfully  battle  oppression  and  wrong 
With  hearts  that  are  earnest,  and  trusty,  and  strong; 

With  God  and  the  truth  to  inspire. 

— E.  T.  Jeffrey. 


63 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  25 

They  helped  every  one  his  neighbour  ;  and  every  one  said  to  his  brother, 
Be  of  good  courage,     Isaiah  41 : 6. 


flputual  feecuritp. 


(Letter  to  Governor  Fletcher,  of  Missouri,   February  20, 
1865.) 

It  seems  that  there  is  no  organized  military  force  of  the  enemy 
in  Missouri,  and  yet  that  destruction  of  property  and  life  is  ram- 
pant everywhere.  Is  not  the  cure  for  this  within  the  reach  of  the 
people  themselves?  It  cannot  but  be  that  every  man,  not  natu- 
rally a  robber  or  cutthroat,  would  gladly  put  an  end  to  this  state 
of  things.  A  large  majority,  in  every  locality,  must  feel  alike 
upon  this  subject;  and  if  so,  they  only  need  to  reach  an  under- 
standing, one  with  another.  Each  leaving  all  others  alone  solves 
the  problem;  and  surely  each  would  do  this,  but  for  his  appre- 
hension that  others  will  not  leave  him  alone.  Cannot  this  mis- 
chievous distrust  be  removed?  Let  neighborhood  meetings  be 
everywhere  called  and  held,  of  all  entertaining  a  sincere  purpose 
for  mutual  security  in  the  future,  whatever  they  may  heretofore 
have  thought,  said,  or  done  about  the  war,  or  about  anything  else. 
Let  all  such  meet,  and,  waiving  all  else,  pledge  each  to  cease 
harassing  others,  and  to  make  common  cause  against  whoever 
persists  in  making,  aiding,  or  encouraging  further  disturbance. 
The  practical  means  they  will  best  know  how  to  adopt  and  apply. 
At  such  meetings,  old  friendships  will  cross  the  memory,  and 
honor  and  Christian  charity  will  come  in  to  help. 


Thus   by  friendship's  ties  united, 

We  will  change  the  bloody  past 
Into  golden  links  of  union, 
Blending  all  in  love  at  last. 

— Anonymous. 


64 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  2« 

Let  every  one  of  us  please  his  neighbour  for  his  good  to  edification. 
Romans  15  :  2. 


Won  ag  $®v  flDton 


(From  first  speech  in  Washington  after  arriving,  February 
27,  1861,  delivered  at  his  hotel  to  the  Mayor  and  Common 
Council.) 

As  it  is  the  first  time  in  my  life  since  the  present  phase  of  poli- 
tics has  presented  itself  in  this  country,  that  I  have  said  anything 
publicly  within  a  region  of  country  where  the  institution  of 
slavery  exists,  I  will  take  occasion  to  say  that  I  think  very  much 
of  the  ill  feeling  that  has  existed,  and  still  exists  between  the 
people  in  the  sections  from  which  I  came  and  the  people  here,  is 
dependent  upon  a  misunderstanding  of  one  another.  I  therefore 
avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  to  assure  you,  Mr.  Mayor,  and 
all  the  gentlemen  present,  that  I  have  not  now,  and  never  have 
had  any  disposition  to  treat  you  in  any  respect  otherwise  than 
as  my  own  neighbors.  I  have  not  now  any  purpose  to  withhold 
from  you  any  of  the  benefits  of  the  Constitution,  under  any  cir-  . 
cuinstances,  that  I  would  not  feel  myself  constrained  to  withhold 
from  my  own  neighbors;  and  I  hope,  in  a  word,  that  when  we 
shall  become  better  acquainted  —  and  I  say  it  with  great  confidence 
—  we  shall  like  each  other  the  more. 


My  country,  sir,  is  not  a  single  spot 
Of  such  a  mould,  or  fix'd  to  such  a  clime; 
No,  't  is  the  social  circle  of  my  friends, 
The  lov'd  community  in  which  I  'm  link'd, 
And  in  whose  welfare  all  my  wishes  center. 

— James  Miller. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  27 

We  have  done  that  which  was  our  duty  to  do.     Luke  17  :  10. 


SDtttp. 


(Extract   from   Cooper   Institute  speech.   New   York,    Feb- 
ruary 27,  1860.) 

Even  though  the  Southern  people  will  not  so  much  as  listen  to 
us,  let  us  calmly  consider  their  demands,  and  yield  to  them,  if  in 
our  deliberate  view  of  our  duty  we  possibly  can.  Judging  by  all 
they  say  and  do,  and  by  the  subject  and  nature  of  their  contro- 
versy with  us,  let  us  determine,  if  we  can,  what  will  satisfy  them. 
.  .  .  Wrong  as  we  think  slavery  is,  we  can  yet  afford  to  let  it 
alone  where  it  is,  because  that  much  is  due  to  the  necessity  aris- 
ing from  its  actual  presence  in  the  nation.  But  can  we,  while  our 
votes  will  prevent  it,  allow  it  to  spread  into  the  national  terri- 
tories, and  to  overrun  us  here  in  the  free  States?  If  our  sense  of 
duty  forbids  this,  then  let  us  stand  by  our  duty  fearlessly  and 
effectively. 


Not  in  dumb  resignation 

We  lift  our  hands  on  high; 
Not  like  the  nerveless  fatalist, 

Content  to  trust  and  die. 
Our  faith  springs  like  the  eagle, 

Who  soars  to  meet  the  sun, 
And  cries  exulting  unto  Thee, 

"O  Lord,  thy  will  be  done." 

When  tyrant  feet  are  trampling 

Upon  the  common  weal, 
Thou  dost  not  bid  us  bend  and  writhe 

Beneath  the  iron  heel. 
In  thy  name  ice  assert  our  right 

By  sword  or  tongue  or  pen, 
And  even  the  headsman's  ax  may  flash 

Thy  message  unto  men. 

Thy  will;  it  bids  the  iceak  be  strong, 

It  bids  the  strong  be  just; 
No  lip  to  fawn,  no  hand  to  beg, 

No  brow  to  seek  the  dust. 
Wherever  man  oppresses  man 

Beneath  thy   liberal   sun, 
O  Lord,  be  there,  thine  arm  made  bare: 

Thy  righteous  will  be  done.          — Hon.  John  Hay. 

66 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  28 

How   forcible   are   right  words !      Job   6 :  25. 


(Extracts  from  Cooper  Institute  speech,  New  York,  Febru- 
ary 27,   1860.     Continued  from   preceding  page.) 

Let  us  be  diverted  by  none  of  those  sophistical  contrivances 
wherewith  we  are  so  industriously  plied  and  belabored — con- 
trivances such  as  groping  for  some  middle  ground  between  the 
right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as  the  search  for  a  man  who  should  be 
neither  a  living  man  nor  a  dead  man;  such  a  policy  of  "don't 
care"  on  a  question  about  which  all  true  men  do  care;  such  as 
Union  appeals,  beseeching  true  Union  men  to  yield  to  disunion- 
ists,  reversing  the  divine  rule,  and  calling  not  the  sinners  but  the 
righteous  to  repentance;  such  as  invocations  to  Washington  im- 
ploring men  to  unsay  what  Washington  said,  and  to  undo  what 
Washington  did.  Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might,  and 
in  that  faith  let  us,  to  the  end,  do  our  duty  as  we  understand  it. 


The  man  who  is  strong  to  fight  his  fight, 

And  whose  will  no  force  can  daunt, 
While  the  truth  is  truth  and  the  right  is  might, 

Is  the  man  that  the  ages  want. 

He  may  fail  or  fall  in  grim  defeat, 

But  he  has  not  fled  the  strife, 
And  the  house  of  earth  shall  smell  more  sweet 

For  the  perfume  of  his  life. 

— Dunbar. 


67 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


FEBRUARY  29 

Is  thine  heart  right,  as  my  heart  Is  with  thy  heart?    If  it  be,  give  me 
thine  hand.     II.  Kings  10 : 15. 


&  3$i0un&et0tantiing;. 

(From  a  speech  In  response  to  a  serenade  at  Washington, 
February  28,  1861.) 

I  am  here  for  the  purpose  of  taking  official  position  amongst 
the  people,  almost  all  of  whom  were  politically  opposed  to  me 
and  are  yet  opposed  to  me,  as  I  suppose.  I  propose  no  lengthy 
address  to  you.  I  only  propose  to  say,  as  I  did  yesterday,  when 
your  worthy  Mayor  and  Board  of  Aldermen  called  upon  me,  that 
I  thought  much  of  the  ill  feeling  that  has  existed  between  you 
and  the  people  of  your  surroundings,  and  that  people  from  among 
whom  I  came,  has  depended,  and  now  depends  upon  a  misunder- 
standing. I  hope  that  if  things  shall  go  along  as  prosperously  as 
I  believe  we  all  desire  they  may,  I  have  it  in  my  power  to  remove 
some  of  the  misunderstanding;  that  I  may  be  able  to  convince 
you,  and  the  people  of  your  section  of  the  country,  that  we  regard 
you  as  in  all  things  our  equals,  and  in  all  things  entitled  to  the 
same  respect  and  the  same  treatment  that  we  claim  for  ourselves; 
that  we  are  in  no  wise  disposed,  if  it  were  in  our  power  to  oppress 
you,  to  deprive  you  of  any  of  your  rights  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  or  over-narrowly  to  split  hairs  with  you  in 
regard  to  those  rights,  but  are  determined  to  give  you,  as  far  as 
lies  in  our  hands,  all  your  rights  under  the  Constitution — not 
grudgingly,  but  fully  and  fairly.  I  hope  that,  by  thus  dealing 
with  you,  we  shall  become  better  acquainted,  and  be  better 
friends. 


Could  we  but  draw  back  the  curtains 

That  surround  each  other's  lives, 
See  .the  naked  heart  and  spirit, 

Know  what  spur  the  action  gives; 
Often  we  should  find  it  better, 

Purer  than  we  judge  we  should; 
We  should  love  each  other  better 

If  ice  only  understood. 

— Anonymous. 
68 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH  1 

Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord  ;  trust  also  in  him  ;  and  he  shall  bring 
it  to  pass.     Psalms  37  :  5. 


(Formal  acceptance  of  reelection  as  reported  by  Mr.  Wil- 
son, of  Iowa,  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  March  1, 
1865.) 

Having  served  four  years  in  the  depths  of  a  great  and  yet 
unended  national  peril,  I  can  view  this  call  to  a  second  term  in 
no  wise  no  more  flattering  to  myself  than  as  an  expression  of  the 
public  judgment  that  I  may  better  finish  a  difficult  work,  in  which 
I  have  labored  from  the  first,  than  could  any  one  less  severely 
schooled  to  the  task.  In  this  view,  and  with  assured  reliance  on 
that  Almighty  Ruler  who  has  so  graciously  sustained  us  thus  far, 
and  with  increased  gratitude  to  the  generous  people  for  their 
continued  confidence,  I  accept  the  renewed  trust  with  its  yet 
onerous  and  perplexing  duties  and  responsibilities. 


Since  God  doth  will  that  some  shall  dicell  at  ease, 
And  others  shall  know  hardness;  this  is  sure, 

The  lot  that  fits  each  nature  he  forsees; 

And  wherefore  murmur  when  we  must  endure  t 

Some  day  his  loving  wisdom  will  be  plain 

As  the  sweet  sunshine  following  after  rain. 

— Mary    Bradley. 


69 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH   2 

Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy, 
but  to  fulfil.     Matt.  5  :  17. 


(From   the  first  Inaugural   Address,    March  4,   1861.) 

Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the  Southern 
States  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  administration  their 
property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security  are  to  be  en- 
dangered. There  has  never  been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such 
apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary 
has  all  the  while  existed,  and  been  open  to  inspection.  It  is  found 
in  nearly  all  the  published  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses 
you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches  when  I  declare 
that  "I  have  no  disposition,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  in  the  States  where  it  exists."  I  believe  I 
have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so;  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so. 
Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me  did  so  with  the  full  knowl- 
edge that  I  had  made  this,  and  many  similar  declarations,  and 
had  never  recanted  them. 


The  flying  rumours  gathered  as  they  roll'd, 
Scarce  any  tale  was  sooner  heard  than  told, 
And  all  who  told  it  added  something  new, 
And  all  who  heard  it  made  enlargement,  too, 
In  every  ear  it  spread,  on  every  tongue  it  grew. 

— Pope. 


70 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH     3 

Ye  have  need  that  one  teach  you  again  which  be  the  first  principles  of 
the  oracles  of  God.       Hebrews  5  :  12. 


Union  flDIoer  Hfjait  tljc  Constitution. 

(From  the  first  Inaugural  Address,  March  4,  1861.     Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It  was  formed, 
in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It  was  matured 
and  continued  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  1776.  It 
was  further  matured,  and  the  faith  of  all  the  then  thirteen  States 
expressly  plighted  and  engaged  that  it  should  be  perpetual,  by 
the  articles  of  Confederation  in  1778,  and  finally,  in  1787,  one  of 
the  declared  objects  for  ordaining  and  establishing  the  constitu- 
tion was  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union.  But  if  the  destruction  of 
the  Union  by  one  or  by  a  part  only  of  the  States  be  lawfully  pos- 
sible, the  Union  is  less  than  before,  the  Constitution  having  lost 
the  vital  element  of  perpetuity.  It  follows  from  these  views  that 
no  State,  upon  its  own  mere  notion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the 
Union;  that  resolves  and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are  legally 
void;  and  that  acts  of  violence  within  any  State  or  States  against 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  are  insurrectionary  or  revolu- 
tionary, according  to  circumstances. 


Who  would   sever  freedom's   shrine f 
Who  would  draw  the  inrideous  linef 
Though,  by  birth,  one  spot  be  mine, 

Dear  is  all  the  rest: 
Dear  to  me  the  South's  fair  land, 
Dear  the  central  mountain  band, 
Dear  to  New  England's  rocky  strand, 

Dear  the  prairied  West. 

— Anonymous. 


71 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    4     (Inauguration     Day) 

This  people  hath  a  revolting  and  a  rebellious  heart.     Jeremiah  5 :  23. 


of 

(From  the  first  Inaugural  Address,  March  4,   1861.   Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

If  the  minority  will  not  acquiesce,  the  majority  must,  or  the 
Government  must  cease.  There  is  no  alternative  for  continuing 
the  Government  but  acquiescence  on  the  one  side  or  the  other. 
If  a  minority  in  such  a  case  will  secede  rather  than  acquiesce, 
they  will  make  a  precedent  which,  in  turn,  will  ruin  and  divide 
them,  for  a  minority  of  their  own  will  secede  from  them  when- 
over  a  majority  refuses  to  be  controlled  by  such  a  minority.  For 
instance,  why  not  any  portion  of  a  new  Confederacy,  a  year  or 
two  hence,  arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of  the 
present  Union  now  claim  to  secede  from  it?  All  who  cherish  dis- 
union sentiments  are  now  being  educated  to  the  exact  temper  of 
doing  this.  Is  there  such  perfect  identity  of  interests  among  the 
States  to  compose  a  new  Union  as  to  produce  harmony  only,  and 
prevent  renewed  secession?  Plainly,  the  central  idea  of  secession 
is  the  essence  of  anarchy. 


Rebellion!   foul   dishonoring  word, 

Whose  wrongful  blight  so  often  has  stained 

Tlie  holiest  cause  that  tongue  or  sicord 
Of  mortal  ever  lost  or  gained. 

— Moore. 


72 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH   5 

He  took  the  book  of  the  covenant,  and  read  in  the  audience  of  the 
people  ;  and  they  said,  All  that  the  Lord  hath  said  we  will  do,  and  be 
obedient.  Exodus  24  :  7. 


ttp  from  t&e 


(From  the  first  Inaugural  Address,  March  4,  1861.     Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the  people, 
and  they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix  the  terms  for  the 
separation  of  the  States.  The  people  themselves,  also,  can  do  this 
if  they  choose,  but  the  Executive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  His  duty  is  to  administer  the  present  government  as  it  came 
into  his  hands,  and  to  transmit  it  unimpaired  by  him  to  his  suc- 
cessor. Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence  in  the  ulti- 
mate justice  of  the  people?  Is  there  any  better  or  equal  hope  in 
the  world?  ...  If  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  nations,  with  his  eter- 
nal truth  and  justice,  be  on  your  side  of  the  North,  or  yours  of 
the  South,  that  truth  and  that  justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the 
judgment  of  this  great  tribunal,  the  American  people. 


A  government,  on  freedom's  basis  built, 

Has,  in  all  ages,  been  the  theme  of  song, 

And  the  desire  of  great  godlike  men, 

For  this  the  Grecian  patriots  fought; — for  this 

The  noblest  Roman  died.      Shall  I  go  onf 

Name  Tell,  and  Hampden,  and  our  Washington. 

— Mrs.  Hale. 


73 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    6 

See,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  Is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein. 
But  they  said,  We  will  noi  walk  therein.     Jeremiah  6  :  16. 


jSDId  Constitution  Unimpaired* 

(From  the  first  Inaugural  Address,  March  4,  1861.     Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon  this 
whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time.  If 
there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to  a  step 
which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will  be  frus- 
trated by  taking  time;  but  no  good  cause  can  be  frustrated  by  it. 
Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied  still  have  the  old  Constitution 
unimpaired,  and  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your  own 
framing  under  it;  while  the  new  administration  will  have  no 
immediate  power  to  change  either.  If  it  were  admitted  you  who 
are  dissatisfied  hold  the  right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  is  still 
not  a  single  reason  for  precipitate  action.  Intelligence,  patriot- 
ism, Christianity,  and  a  firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet 
forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the 
best  way,  all  our  present  difficulties. 


Thou  too  sail  on,  O  Ship  of  State! 
Sail  on,  O   Union,  strong  and  great  I 
Humanity  icith  all  its   fears, 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate! 

• — Longfellow. 


74 


MARCH   7 

If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things 
which  belong  unto  thy  peace !  but  now  are  they  hid  from  thine  eyes.  Luke 
19  :  42. 


(Conclusion   of   first    Inaugural    Address,   March   4,    1861. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in 
mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  Government  will 
not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves 
the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy 
the  Government;  while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  "pre- 
serve, protect,  and  defend"  it.  I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not 
enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion 
may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The 
mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battlefield  and 
patriot  gave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this 
broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again 
touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature. 


How  earnestly  did  I  desire  to  draw  thce 

To  hope,  to  safety,  and  abiding  peace; 
And  now,  what  dis-mal  portents  overawe  thee, 

Whose  tokens  drear  continue  to  increase; 
Destruction,  a  gaunt  specter,  hovers  o'er  thee, 

And  waves  his  'bony  hand  with  menace  dread, 
Or  stands  with  aspect  threaten'ng  before  thee, 

Or  writes  dark  omens  on  the  clouds  o'erhead. 

,  — J.   W.   Slagenhaup. 


75 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH     8 

And  this  Is  the  confidence  we  have   in  him,  that  if  we  ask  anything 
according  to  his  will,  he  heareth  us.     I.  John  5  :  14. 


of  Botfc  Could  jRot  be 

(From  the  second  Inaugural  Address,  March  4,  1865.) 

Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or  duration 
which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  anticipated  the  cause  of 
the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or  even  before  the  conflict  itself 
should  cease.  Each  looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result 
less  fundamental  and  astounding.  Both  read  the  same  Bible  and 
pray  to  the  same  God;  and  each  invokes  his  aid  against  the  other. 
It  may  seem  strange  that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask  a  just 
God's  assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other 
men's  faces;  but  let  us  judge  not  that  we  be  not  judged.  The 
prayers  of  both  could  not  be  answered;  that  of  neither  has  been 
answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  his  own  purposes.  "Woe  to 
the  world  because  of  offenses!  for  it  must  need  be  that  offense 
come;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh."  If  we 
shall  suppose  American  slavery  is  one  of  those  offenses  which,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  must  needs  come,  but  which,  having  con- 
tinued through  his  appointed  time,  he  now  wills  to  remove,  and 
that  he  gives  to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war  as  the 
woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the  offense  came,  shall  we  discern 
therein  any  departure  from  those  divine  attributes  which  the  be- 
lievers in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to  him? 


O  sad  estate 

Of  human  wretchedness !  so  weak  is  man, 
So  ignorant  and  blind,  that  did  not  God 
Sometimes  withhold  in  mercy  what  we  ask, 
We  should  be  ruined  at  our  own  request. 

— Hannah   More. 


76 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH     9 

Above  all  these  things  put  on  charity,  which  is  the  bond  of  perfectness. 
Colossians  3 : 14. 


^0toatti0  jRone,  Cljatftp  tot 

(From    the    second    Inaugural    Address,    March    4,    1865. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty 
scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that  it 
continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  up  by  the  bondman's  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until 
every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another 
drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so 
still  it  must  be  said,  "The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and 
righteous  altogether."  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for 
all,  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the 
nation's  wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle, 
and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan;  to  do  all  which  may  achieve 
and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with 
all  nations. 


In  faith  and  hope  the  world  will  disagree, 
But  all  mankind's  concern  is  charity: 
All  must  be  false  that  thwart  this  one  great  end 
And  all  of  God,  that  bless  mankind,  or  mend. 

— Pope. 


77 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    10 

Apply  thine  heart  unto  Instruction,  and  thine  ears  to  words  of  knowl- 
edge.    Proverbs  23 : 12. 


(Bentral  (C&ucation. 

(From  a  circular  announcing  his  candidacy  for  the  Legis- 
lature, in  March,  1832,  when  only  twenty-three  years  old.) 

That  every  man  may  receive  at  least  a  moderate  education, 
and  thereby  be  enabled  to  read  the  histories  of  his  own  and  other 
countries,  by  which  he  may  duly  appreciate  the  value  of  our  free 
institutions,  appears  to  be  an  object  of  vital  importance;  even  on 
this  account  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the  advantages  and  satis- 
faction to  be  derived  from  all  being  able  to  read  the  Scriptures 
and  other  works,  both  of  religious  and  moral  nature,  for  them- 
selves. For  my  part,  I  desire  to  see  the  time  when  education,  by 
its  means,  morality,  sobriety,  enterprise  and  integrity,  shall  be- 
come much  more  general  than  at  present,  and  should  be  gratified 
to  have  it  in  my  power  to  contribute  something  to  the  advance- 
ment of  any  measure  which  might  have  a  tendency  to  accelerate 
the  happy  period. 


Through  knowledge  we  behold  the  world's  creation, 
How  in  his  cradle  first  he  fostered  was, 
And  judge  of  nature's  cunning  operation, 
How  things  sjie  •formed  of  a  formless  mass: 
By  knowledge  we  do  learn  ourselves  to  know; 
And  what  to  man  and  what  to  God  we  owe. 

— Spencer. 


78 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    11 

A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches.     Proverbs  22 : 1. 


•ambition. 

(From  a  circular  printed  in  March,  1832,  announcing  him- 
self a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  when  he  was  twenty- 
three  years  old.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Every  man  is  said  to  have  his  peculiar  ambition.  Whether  it 
be  true  or  not,  I  can  say  for  one  that  I  have  no  other  so  great  as 
that  of  being  truly  esteemed  of  my  fellow-men  by  rendering  my- 
self worthy  of  their  esteem.  How  far  I  shall  succeed  in  gratifying 
this  ambition  is  yet  to  be  developed.  I  am  young,  and  unknown  to 
most  of  you.  I  was  born,  and  have  ever  remained  in  the  most 
humble  walks  of  life.  I  have  no  wealthy  or  popular  relatives  or 
friends  to  recommend  me.  My  case  is  thrown  exclusively  upon 
the  independent  voters  of  the  country;  and  if  elected  they  will 
have  conferred  a  favor  upon  me  for  which  I  shall  be  unremitting 
in  my  labors  to  compensate.  But  if  the  good  people  in  their  wis- 
dom shall  see  fit  to  keep  me  in  the  background,  I  have  been  too 
familiar  with  disappointments  to  be  very  much  chagrined. 


So  he  went  forth  to  battle  on  the  side 

That  he  felt  clear  was  Liberty's  and,  Right's; 

As   in,  his   pleasant  boyhood  he  had  plied 

His  warfare  with  rude  Nature's  thwarting  mights. 

— Tom    Taylor. 


79 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR   BOOK 


MARCH    12 

The  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  reward.     I.  Timothy  5  :  18. 


(Beneral  (Krant. 

(U.  S.  Grant,  commissioned  Lieutenant-General  at  his  first 
meeting  with  Lincoln,  March  9,  1864.) 

General  Grant,  the  nation's  appreciation  of  what  you  have  done, 
and  its  reliance  upon  you  for  what  remains  to  be  done  in  the 
existing  struggle,  are  now  presented  with  this  commission,  con- 
stituting you  lieutenant-general  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 
With  this  high  honor  devolves  upon  you  a  corresponding  respon- 
sibility. As  the  country  trusts  in  you,  so,  under  God,  it  will  sus- 
tain you.  I  scarcely  need  add  that  with  what  I  here  speak  for 
the  nation  goes  my  own  hearty  personal  concurrence. 


But  there  are  deeds  which  should  not  pass  away, 

And  names  that  must  not  wither,  though  the  earth 
Forgets  her  empires  with  a  just  decay. 

The  enslavers  and  the  enslaved,  their  death  and  birth; 
The  high,  the  mountain  majesty  of  worth 

Should  be,  and  sh-all,  survivor  of  its  woe, 
And  from  its  immortality  look  forth 

In  the  sun's  face,  like  yonder  Alpine  snow, 
Impcrishably  pure  beyond  all   things  below. 

— Byron. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    13 

To  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that 
ye  break  every  yoke.     Isaiah  58 :  6. 


letod  of  Ei&ettp  in  t&e  jpamity  of  jpteebom. 

(Letter  to  Governor  Hahn,  of  Louisiana,  March  13,  1864.) 

I  congratulate  you  on  having  fixed  your  name  in  history  as  the 
first  Free-State  Governor  of  Louisiana.  Now,  you  are  about  to 
have  a  convention,  which,  among  other  things,  will  probably  de- 
fine the  elective  franchise.  I  barely  suggest,  for  your  private 
consideration,  whether  some  of  the  colored  people  may  not  be  let 
in,  as,  for  instance,  the  very  intelligent,  and  especially  those  who 
have  fought  gallantly  in  our  ranks.  They  would  probably  help, 
in  some  trying  time,  to  keep  the  jewel  of  liberty  in  the  family  of 
freedom. 


When  will  the  world  shake  off  such  yokes,,  oh,  when 
Will  that  redeeming  day  shine  out  on  men, 
That  shall  behold  them  rise,  erect  and  free 
As  heaven  and  nature  meant  mankind  should  bet 

— Thomas  Moore. 


81 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH     14 

Understandest   thou   what  thou   readest  ?     Acts  8  :  30. 


(To  Mr.   McDonough,  an  actor,  who  called  at  the  White 
House,    accompanied   by   W.   D.    Kelley.) 

I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  McDonough,  and  I  am  grateful 
to  Kelley  for  bringing  you  in  so  early,  for  I  want  you  to  tell  me 
something  about  Shakespeare's  plays  as  they  are  constructed  for 
the  stage.  You  can  imagine  that  I  do  not  get  much  time  to  study 
such  matters,  but  I  recently  had  a  couple  of  talks  with  Hackett — 
Baron  Hackett,  as  they  call  him — who  is  famous  as  Jack  Falstaff, 
from  whom  I  elicited  few  satisfactory  replies,  though  I  probed 
him  with  a  good  many  questions.  .  .  .  Hackett's  lack  of  informa- 
tion impressed  me  with  a  doubt  as  to  whether  he  had  ever  studied 
Shakespeare's  text. 

(To  a  chaplain  who  was  present.) 

From  your  calling  it  is  probable  that  you  do  not  know  that  the 
acting  plays  which  people  crowd  to  hear  are  not  always  those 
planned  by  their  reputed  authors.  Thus,  take  the  stage  edition 
of  Richard  III.  It  opens  with  a  passage  from  Henry  VI.,  after 
which  comes  portions  of  Richard  III.,  then  another  scene  from 
Henry  VI.,  and  the  finest  soliloquy  in  the  play,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  many  quotations  it  furnishes,  and  the  frequency  with 
which  it  is  heard  in  amateur  exhibitions,  was  never  seen  by 
Shakespeare,  but  was  written — was  it  not,  Mr.  McDonough? — 
after  his  death,  by  Colley  Gibber. 


When  Learning's  triumph  o'er  her  barbarous  foes 
First  reared  the  stage,  immortal  Shakespeare  rose, 
Each  change  of  many-colored  life  he  drew; 
Exhausted  worlds,  and  then   imagin'd   new 
Existence — -saw  him  spurn  her  bounded  reign; 
And  panting   Time—toil' d  after  him  in  vain. 

— Dr.    Johnson. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    15 

Am  I  therefore  become  your  enemy,  because  I  tell  you  the  truth?     Gala- 
tians  4  :  16. 


to  be 

(Letter  to  Thurlow  Weed,   March  15,   1865.) 

Every  one  likes  a  compliment.  Thank  you  for  yours  on  my 
little  notification  speech,  and  on  the  recent  inaugural  address.  I 
expect  the  latter  to  wear  as  well  as,  perhaps  better  than  any- 
thing I  have  produced;  but  I  believe  it  is  not  immediately  popu- 
lar. Men  are  not  flattered  by  being  shown  that  there  has  been  a 
difference  of  purpose  between  the  Almighty  and  them.  To  deny 
it,  however,  in  this  case,  is  to  deny  that  there  is  a  God  governing 
the  world.  It  is  a  truth  which  I  thought  needed  to  be  told,  and, 
as  whatever  of  humiliation  there  is  in  it  falls  most  directly  on 
myself,  I  thought  others  might  afford  to  let  me  tell  it. 


They  are  slaves  icho  fear  to  speak 

For  the  fallen  and  the  weak; 

They  are  slaves  icho  will  not  choose 

Hatred,  scoffiny,  and  abuse, 

Rather  than  in  silence  shrink 

From  the  truth   they  needs  must   think; 

They  are  slaves  who  dare  not  be 

In  the  right  with  two  or  three. 

— Lowell. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOO& 


MARCH    16 

This   woman   was   full   of  good  works   and   almsdeeds   which   she    did. 
Acts.  9  :  36. 


Compliment  to  flflloman. 

(Extract  from  a  speech  at  a  Ladies'  Fair  for  the  benefit  of 
the  soldiers,  Washington,  March  16,  1864.) 

In  this  extraordinary  war  extraordinary  developments  have 
manifested  themselves  such  as  have  not  been  seen  in  former 
wars;  and  among  these  manifestations  nothing  has  been  more 
remarkable  than  these  fairs  for  the  relief  of  suffering  soldiers 
and  their  families,  and  the  chief  agents  in  these  fairs  are  the 
women  of  America.  I  am  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the  lan- 
guage of  eulogy;  I  have  never  studied  the  art  of  paying  compli- 
ments to  women;  but  I  must  say  that  if  all  that  has  been  said  by 
orators  and  poets  since  the  creation  of  the  world  in  praise  of 
women  were  applied  to  the  women  of  America,  it  would  not  do 
them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  the  war.  I  will  close  by 
saying,  God  bless  the  women  of  America. 


Woman!  blest  partner  of  our  joys  and  woes! 

Even  in  the  darkest  hours  of  earthly  ill 
Untarnish'd  yet  thy  fond  ejection  glows, 

Throbs  with  each  pulse,  and  beats  with  every  thrill! 

— Sands. 


84 


THE  LINCOLN   YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    17 

Behold  a  present  for  you  of  the  spoil  of  the  enemies  of  the  Lord. 
Samuel  30  :  26. 


Captured 

(Extract  from  a  speech  at  National  Hotel,  Washington, 
March  17,  1865,  on  presenting  to  Governor  Morton,  of  In- 
diana, a  Confederate  flag  captured  by  Indiana  troops.) 

It  will  be  but  a  very  few  words  that  I  shall  undertake  to  say. 
I  was  born  in  Kentucky,  raised  in  Indiana,  and  live  in  Illinois, 
and  I  am  now  here,  where  it  is  my  business  to  be,  to  care  equally 
for  the  good  people  of  all  the  States.  I  am  glad  to  see  an  Indiana 
regiment  on  this  day  able  to  present  this  captured  flag  to  the 
Governor  of  Indiana.  I  am  not  disposed,  in  saying  this,  to  make 
a  distinction  between  the  States,  for  all  have  done  equally  well. 


There  arc  flays  in  many  lands, 
There  are  flags  of  every  hue; 
But  there  is  no  flag,  however  grand, 
Like  our  own  Red,  White,  and  Blue. 

— Anonymous. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    18 

What  fellowship  hath   righteousness  with   unrighteousness?   and   what 
communion  hath  light  with  darkness?     II.  Corinthians  6:14. 


(Ettrnal  ftntagontem. 


(Extract  from  speech  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  1854.) 

Slavery  is  founded  in  the  selfishness  of  man's  nature — opposi- 
tion to  it  in  his  love  of  justice.  These  principles  are  an  eternal 
antagonism,  and  when  brought  into  collision  so  fiercely  as  exten- 
sion brings  them,  shocks  and  throes  and  convulsions  must  cease- 
lessly follow.  Repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise,  repeal  all  com- 
promises, repeal  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  repeal  all  past 
history,  you  still  cannot  repeal  human  nature.  It  still  will  be  the 
abundance  of  man's  heart  that  slavery  is  wrong,  and  out  of  the 
abundance  of  his  heart  his  mouth  will  continue  to  speak. 


Careless  seems  the  great  Avenger;  history's  pages  but  record 
One  death-grapple  in  the  darkness  'twixt  old  systems  and  the  Word; 
Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold,  Wrong  forever  on  the  throne — 
Yet  that  scaffold  steals  the  future,  and,  behind  the  dim  unknown, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above  his  own. 

— Lowell. 


86 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH     19 

Art  thou  for  us,  or  for  our  adversaries?     Joshua  5  :  13. 


&  People's  Content. 

(Extract  from  first  message  to  Congress,  July  4,  1861.) 

Our  adversaries  have  adopted  some  declaration  of  independ- 
ence, in  which,  unlike  the  good  old  one  penned  by  Jefferson,  they 
omit  the  words,  "All  men  are  created  equal."  Why?  They  have 
adopted  a  temporary  national  constitution,  in  the  preamble  of 
which,  unlike  our  good  old  one  signed  by  Washington,  they  omit, 
"We,  the  people,"  and  substitute,  "We,  the  deputies  of  the  sover- 
eign and  Independent  States."  Why?  Why  this  deliberate  press- 
ing out  of  view  the  rights  of  men  and  the  authority  of  the 
people?  This  is  essentially  a  people's  contest.  On  the  side  of  the 
Union  it  is  a  struggle  for  maintaining  in  the  world  that  form  of 
government  whose  leading  object  is  to  elevate  the  condition  of 
men,  to  lift  artificial  weights  from  all  shoulders,  to  clear  the 
paths  of  laudable  pursuit  for  all,  to  afford  an  unfettered  start 
and  a  fair  chance  in  the  race  of  life. 


O  liberty!  heaven's  choice  prerogative  I 

True  bond  of  law !  thou  social  soul  of  property ! 

Thou  breath  of  rea-son!  life  of  life  itself  t 
For  the  valiant   bleed.      0   sacred  liberty  I 


87 


MARCH    20 

He  multiplleth  words  without  knowledge.     Job  35  :  16. 


2Unff  IBUcfiard  t&e 

(To  Mr.  F.  B.  Carpenter,  at  White  House,  March  2,  1864.) 

The  opening  of  the  play  of  King  Richard  the  Third  seems  to 
me  often  entirely  misapprehended.  It  is  quite  common  for  an 
actor  to  come  upon  the  stage,  and,  in  a  sophomoric  style,  to  begin 
with  a  flourish: 

"Now  is  the  winter  of  our  discontent 
Made  glorious  summer  by  this  sun  of  York, 
And  all  the  clouds  that  lowered  upon  our  house, 
In  the  deep  bosom  of  the  ocean  buried." 

Now,  this  is  all  wrong.  Richard,  you  remember,  had  been,  and 
was  then,  plotting  the  destruction  of  his  brothers,  to  make  room 
for  himself.  Outwardly  the  most  loyal  to  the  newly  crowned 
king,  secretly  he  could  scarcely  contain  his  impatience  at  the 
obstacles  still  in  the  way  of  his  own  elevation.  He  appears  on  the 
stage,  just  after  the  crowning  of  Edward,  burning  with  repressed 
hate  and  jealousy.  The  prologue  is  the  utterance  of  the  most 
intense  bitterness  and  satire. 


Words  learn'd  by  rote  a  parrot  matt  rehearse, 
But  talking  in  not  alica-ys  to  converse; 
yot  more  distant  fr,om  harmony  divine, 
The  constant  creaking  of  a  country  sign. 

— Cowper. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    21 

Hear  counsel,  and  receive  instruction,  that  thou  mayest  be  wise  in  thy 
latter  end.     Proverbs  19  :  20. 


Si  femall  Ketattur. 

(Notes  from   a  law   lecture,   1850.) 

As  a  general  rule,  never  take  your  whole  fee  in  advance,  nor 
any  more  than  a  small  retainer.  When  fully  paid  beforehand,  you 
are  more  than  a  common  mortal  if  you  can  feel  the  same  interest 
in  the  case  as  if  something  was  still  in  prospect  for  you  as  well 
PS  for  your  client. 


All  are  architects  of  fate, 

Working  in  these  walls  of  time, 
Some  with  massive  deeds  and  great, 

Some  with  ornaments  of  rhyme. 

Nothing  useless  is,  or  low; 

Each  thing  in  its  place  is  best; 
And  what  seems  "but  idle  show 

Strengthens  and  supports  the  rest. 

For  the  structure  that  we  raise, 

Time  is  u~ith  materials  filled; 
Our  to-days  and  yesterdays 

Are  the  blocks  with  which  ivc  build. 

Truli/  shape  and  fashion  these; 

Leave  no  yawning  gaps  between; 
Think  not,  because  no  man  sees, 

Such  things  will  remain  unseen. 

— Longfellow. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    22 

Apollos,  born  at  Alexandria,  an  eloquent  man,  and  mighty  in  the  scrip- 
tures, came  to  Ephesus.  Acts  18  :  24. 


extemporaneous  &ptafcing. 

(Notes  from  a  law  lecture,   1850.) 

Extemporaneous  speaking  should  be  practiced  and  cultivated. 
It  is  the  lawyer's  avenue  to  the  public.  However  able  and  faith- 
ful he  may  be  in  other  respects,  people  are  slow  to  bring  him 
business  if  he  cannot  make  a  speech.  And  yet  there  is  not  a  more 
fatal  error  to  young  lawyers  than  relying  too  much  on  speech- 
making.  If  any  one,  upon  his  rare  powers  of  speaking,  shall 
claim  exemption  from  the  drudgery  of  the  law,  his  case  is  a  fail- 
ure in  advance. 


No  haughty  gesture  marks  his  gait, 

No  pompous  tone  his  word, 
No  studied  attitude  is  seen, 

No  palling  nonsense  heard; 
He'll  suit  his  bearing  to  the  hour — 

Laugh,  listen,  learn,   or  teach, 
With  joyous  freedom  in  his  mirth, 

And  candor  in  his  speech. 

— Eliza   Cook. 


90 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    23 

Blessed   are  the  peacemakers.      Matthew   5  :  9. 


SDisfcouraar  Situation. 

(Notes   from   a  law  lecture,   1850.) 

Discourage  litigation.  Persuade  your  neighbors  to  compromise 
whenever  you  can.  Point  out  to  them  how  the  nominal  winner 
is  often  a  real  loser — in  fees,  expenses,  and  waste  of  time.  As  a 
peace-maker,  the  lawyer  has  a  superiority  of  being  a  good  man. 
There  will  still  be  business  enough.  Never  stir  up  litigation.  A 
worse  man  can  hardly  be  found  than  one  who  does  this.  Who 
can  be  more  nearly  a  fiend  than  he  who  habitually  overhauls 
the  registry  of  deeds  in  search  of  defects  in  titles,  whereon  to 
stir  up  strife  and  put  money  in  his  pocket?  A  moral  tone  ought 
to  be  infused  into  the  profession  which  would  drive  such  men  out 
of  it. 


Learn  to  dissemble  wrongs,  to  smile  at  injuries, 

And  suffer  crimes  that  thou  icant'st  the  power  to  punish: 

Be  easy,  affable,  familiar,  friendly; 

Search,  and  know  all  mankind's  mysterious  icays, 

But  trust  the  secret  of  thy  soul  to  none: 

This  is  the  way, 

This  only,  to  be  safe  in  such  a  world  as  this  is. 

— Rowe. 


91 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH   24 

Bring  Zenas  the  lawyer.     Titus  3  : 13. 


popular  Belief, 


(Notes  from   a  law   lecture,   1850.) 

There  is  a  vague  popular  belief  that  the  lawyers  are  necessarily 
dishonest.  I  say  vague,  because  when  we  consider  to  what  extent 
confidence  and  honors  are  reposed  in  and  conferred  upon  lawyers 
by  the  people,  it  appears  improbable  that  their  impression  of  dis- 
honesty is  very  distinct  and  vivid.  Yet  the  impression  is  com- 
mon— almost  universal.  Let  no  young  man  choosing  the  law  for 
a  calling  for  a  moment  yield  to  the  popular  belief.  Resolve  to  be 
honest  at  all  events;  and  if,  in  your  own  judgment,  you  cannot 
be  an  honest  lawyer,  resolve  to  be  honest  without  being  a  lawyer. 
Choose  some  other  occupation  rather  than  one  in  the  choosing  of 
which  you  do,  in  advance,  consent  to  be  a  knave. 


An,  honest  man  is  still  an  unmov'd  rock, 
TVash'd  whiter,  but  not  shaken  with  the  shock: 
Whose  hea-rt  conccires  no  sinister  device; 
Fearless  he  plays  with  flames,  but  treads  on  ice. 

— Davenport. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    25 

We  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf.     Isaiah  64  :  6. 


2U0t  Heat 

(To  F.  B.  Carpenter,  March  25,  1864.) 

There  are  some  quaint,  queer  verses  written,  I  think,  by  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes,  entitled  "The  Last  Leaf,"  one  of  which  is  to  me 
inexpressibly  touching: 

"The  mossy  marbles  rest 
On  the  lips  that  he  has  pressed 

In  their  bloom; 

And  the  names  he  loved  to  hear 
Have  been  carved  for  many  a  year 

On  the  tomb." 

For  pure  pathos,  in  my  judgment,  there  is  nothing  finer  than 
those  six  lines  in  the  English  language! 


They  are  falling,  sadly  falling, 

Close  beside  our  cottage  door, 
Pale  and  faded,  like  the  loved  ones 

That  have  gone  forevermore. 
They  are  falling,  and,  the  sunbeams 

Shine  in  beauty  soft  around; 
Yet  the  faded  leaves  are  falling, 
Falling  on  the  grassy  mound. 

J.    H.    Kurzenknabe. 


S3 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    26 

The  hand  of  the  diligent  maketh  rich.     Proverbs  10 :  4. 


(From  a  speech  at  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  March  6,  1860.) 

I  don't  believe  in  a  law  to  prevent  a  man  from  getting  rich;  it 
would  do  more  harm  than  good.  So  while  we  do  not  propose  any 
war  upon  capital,  we  do  wish  to  allow  the  humblest  man  an  equal 
chance  to  get  rich  with  everybody  else.  When  one  starts  poor,  as 
most  do  in  the  race  of  life,  free  society  is  such  that  when  he 
knows  he  can  better  his  condition,  he  knows  that  there  is  no  fixed 
condition  of  labor  for  his  whole  life.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  con- 
fess that  twenty-five  years  ago  I  was  a  hired  laborer,  mauling 
rails,  at  work  on  a  flat-boat — just  what  might  happen  to  any  poor 
man's  son.  I  want  every  man  to  have  the  chance — and  I  believe 
a  black  man  is  entitled  to  it — in  which  he  can  better  his  condi- 
tion; when  he  may  look  forward  and  hope  to  be  a  hired  laborer 
this  year,  and  then  next  work  for  himself  afterward,  and  finally 
to  hire  men  to  work  for  him.  That  is  the  true  system. 


The,  uncleared  forest,  the  unbroken  soil, 

The  iron  bark  that  turns  the  lumberer's  ax; 

The  rapid  that  o'crbears  the  boatman's  toil, 

The  prairies  hiding  the  mazed  wanderer's  tracks ; 

The  ambushed  Indian   and  the  prowling  bear, 

Such  were  the  deeds  that  helped  his  youth  to  train — 

Rough  culture^  but  such  trees  large  fruit  may  bear, 
If  but  their  stalks  be  of  right  girth  and  grain. 

— Tom  Taylor. 


94 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    27 

The  wicked  plotteth  against  the  just.     Psalms  37 : 12. 


<®tttin$  flftgeb  to 

(To  F.  B.  Carpenter,  In  1864,  who  Informed  him  of  the 
publication  of  an  alleged  conspiracy  to  abduct  or  assassinate 
the  President.) 

Well,  even  if  true,  I  do  not  see  what  the  Rebels  would  gain  by 
killing  or  getting  in  possession  of  me.  I  am  but  a  single  indi- 
vidual, and  it  would  not  help  their  cause  or  make  the  least  dif- 
ference in  the  progress  of  the  war.  Everything  would  go  right 
on  just  the  same.  Soon  after  I  was  nominated  at  Chicago,  I 
began  to  receive  letters  threatening  my  life.  The  first  one  or  two 
made  me  a  little  uncomfortable,  but  I  came  at  length  to  look  for 
a  regular  installment  of  this  kind  of  correspondence  in  every 
week's  mail,  and  up  to  inauguration  day  I  was  in  constant  receipt 
of  such  letters.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  receive  them  now; 
but  they  have  ceased  to  give  me  any  apprehension.  There  is 
nothing  like  getting  used  to  things. 


O  sloic  to  smite  and  swift  to  spare, 

Gentle  and  merciful  and  just! 
Who,  in  the  fear  of  God,  did-st  bear 

The  sicord  of  power — a  nation's  trust! 

Pure  ica-s  thy  life;  its  bloody  close 

Has  placed  thee  icith  the  sons  of  light, 

Among  the  noble  host  of  those 

Who  perished  in  the  cause  of  Right. 

— Bryant. 


16 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    28 

Owe  no  man  any  thing.    Romans  13  :  8. 


(Entitled  to  t&e 

(Often  told  to  his  friends.) 

In  the  days  when  I  used  to  be  "on  the  circuit,"  I  was  once 
accosted  in  the  cars  by  a  stranger,  who  said,  "Excuse  me,  sir,  but 
I  have  an  article  in  my  possession  which  belongs  to  you."  "How 
is  that?"  I  asked,  considerably  astonished.  The  stranger  took  a 
jack-knife  from  his  pocket.  "This  knife,"  said  he,  "was  placed 
in  my  hands  some  years  ago,  with  the  injunction  that  I  was  to 
keep  it  until  I  found  a  man  uglier  than  myself.  I  have  carried  it 
from  that  time  to  this.  Allow  me  now  to  say,  sir,  that  I  think 
you  are  fairly  entitled  to  the  property." 


0  furrowed  face,  beloved  'by  all  the  nation! 

O  tall,  guant  form,  to  memory  fondly  dear! 
0  firm,  bold  hand,  our  strength  and  our  salration! 

0  heart  that  knew  no  fear. 

— Eugene  J.  Hall. 


96 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    29 

Woe  unto  him  that  giveth  to  his  neighbor  drink,  that  puttest  thy  bottle 
to  him,  and  makest  him  drunken.     Habakkuk  2  : 15. 


(In  defense  of  fifteen  women  of  Clinton,  Illinois,  indicted 
for   saloon  smashing,    in   1839.) 

May  it  please  the  court,  I  will  say  a  few  words  in  behalf  of  the 
women  who  are  arraigned  before  your  honor  and  the  jury.  I 
would  suggest,  first,  that  there  be  a  change  in  the  indictment,  so 
as  to  have  it  read,  "The  State  against  Mr.  Whisky,"  instead  of 
"The  State  against  the  Women."  It  would  be  far  more  appro- 
priate. Touching  this  question,  there  are  three  laws:  First,  the 
law  of  self-protection;  second,  the  law  of  the  statute;  third,  the 
law  of  God.  The  law  of  self-protection  is  the  law  of  necessity,  as 
shown  when  our  fathers  threw  the  tea  into  the  Boston  harbor, 
and  in  asserting  their  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness.  This  is  the  defense  of  these  women.  The  man  who 
has  persisted  in  selling  whisky  has  had  no  regard  for  their  well- 
being  or  the  welfare  of  their  husbands  and  sons.  He  has  had  no 
fear  of  God  or  regard  for  man;  neither  has  he  had  any  regard  for 
the  laws  of  the  statute.  No  jury  can  fix  any  damages  or  punish- 
ment for  any  violation  of  the  moral  law.  The  course  pursued  by 
this  liquor-dealer  has  been  for  the  demoralization  of  society.  His 
groggery  has  been  a  nuisance.  These  women,  finding  all  moral 
suasion  of  no  avail  with  this  fellow,  oblivious  to  all  tender  appeal, 
alike  regardless  of  their  prayers  and  tears,  in  order  to  protect 
their  households  and  promote  the  welfare  of  the  community, 
united  to  suppress  the  nuisance.  The  good  of  society  demands 
its  suppression.  They  accomplished  what  otherwise  could  not 
have  been  done." 


They  talk  about  a  woman's  sphere 
As   though  it  had  a  limit; 
There  's  not  a  place  in  earth  or  heaven, 
There  's  not  a  ta-sk  to  mankind  given, 
There  's  not  a  blessing  or  a  woe, 
There  's  not  a  ichl-spcr,  yes  or  no, 
There  's  not  a  life,  or  death,  or  birth 
That  has  a  feather's  iceiyht  of  worth, 
Without  a  woman  in  it. 

— Anonymous. 
97 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    30 

Do  that  which  is  honest.     II.  Corinthians  13  :  7. 


25ut 

(Related  to  a  friend,  concerning  the  treachery  of  his  part- 
ner in  1834,  throwing  a  heavy  debt  on  him,  which,  in  years 
afterward,  he  paid.) 

The  debt  was  the  greatest  obstacle  I  have  ever  met  in  life.  I 
had  no  way  of  speculating,  and  could  not  earn  money  except  by 
labor;  and  to  earn  by  labor  eleven  hundred  dollars,  besides  my 
living,  seemed  the  work  of  a  lifetime.  There  was,  however,  but 
one  way.  I  went  to  the  creditors,  and  told  them  that  if  they 
v/ould  let  me  alone  I  would  give  them  all  I  could  earn  over  my 
living,  as  fast  as  I  could  earn  it. 


The  proudest  motto  for  the  young, 

Write  it  in  lines  of  gold 
Upon  my  heart,  and  in  thy  mind 

The  stirring  words  enfold; 
And  in  misfortune's  dreary  hour, 

Or  fortune's  prosperous  gale, 
'T  will  have  a  holy,  cheering  power: 

"There  's  no  such  word  as  'fail'  !" 

— Mrs.  Neal. 


98 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MARCH    31 

Let  not  the  rebellious  exalt  themseves.     Psalms  66  :  7. 


Ballot^  tfje  &ucci$0ot0  of  Bullets. 

(Extract  from'  first  message  to  Congress,  July  4,  1861.) 

Our  popular  government  has  often  been  called  an  experiment. 
Two  points  in  it  our  people  have  already  settled — the  successful 
establishing,  and  the  successful  administering  of  it.  One  still 
remains — its  successful  maintenance  against  a  formidable  internal 
attempt  to  overthrow  it.  It  is  now  for  them  to  demonstrate  to  the 
world  that  those  who  can  fairly  carry  an  election  can  also 
suppress  a  rebellion;  that  ballots  are  the  rightful  and  peaceful 
successors  of  bullets;  and  that  when  ballots  have  fairly  and  con- 
stitutionally decided,  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  back  to 
bullets;  that  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  except  to  ballots 
themselves  at  succeeding  elections.  Such  will  be  a  great  lesson  of 
peace,  teaching  men  that  what  they  cannot  take  by  an  election, 
neither  can  they  take  by  a  war;  teaching  all  the  folly  of  being 
the  beginners  of  war. 


To  fight, 

In  a  just  cause,  and  for  our  country's  glory, 
Is  the  best  office  of  the  best  of  men; 
And  to  decline  when  these  motives  urge, 
Is  infamy  beneath  a  coward's  baseness. 

— Harvard. 


99 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL   1   (All  Fools'  Day) 

The  foolishness  of  fools  is  folly.     Proverbs  14  :  24. 


jfooi  ti) 

(Said  to  have  been  related  upon  different  occasions.) 

It  is  true  that  you  can  fool  all  the  people  some  of  the  time,  and 
some  of  the  people  all  of  the  time;  but  you  cannot  fool  all  of  the 
people  all  of  the  time. 


I  should  be  the  most  presumptuous  blockhead  upon  this  foot- 
stool, if  I  for  one  day  thought  that  I  could  discharge  the  duties 
which  have  come  upon  me  since  I  came  into  this  place,  without 
the  aid  and  enligh£enment  of  one  who  is  stronger  and  wiser  than 
all  others. 


Nothing  exceeds  in  ridicule,  no  doubt, 

A  fool  IN  fashion,  but  a  fool  that  's  OUT  ; 

His  passion  for  absurdity  's  so  strong, 

He  cannot  bear  a  rival  in  the  wrong 

Though  wrong  the  mode,  comply:  the  more  sense  is  shown 

In  wearing  other's  follies  than  our  own. 

— Young. 


100 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL    2 

Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them. 
Matthew    7 : 12. 


Bond  of 

(To  New  York  Workmen's  Association,  April,  1864.) 

The  strongest  bond  of  human  sympathy  outside  of  the  family 
relation  should  be  one  uniting  all  working  people  of  all  nations, 
tongues,  and  kindreds,  nor  should  this  lead  to  a  war  on  property 
or  owners  of  property.  Property  is  the  fruit  of  labor.  Property 
is  desirable — is  a  positive  good  in  the  world.  That  some  should 
be  rich  shows  that  others  may  become  rich,  and  hence  is  just  en- 
couragement to  industry  and  enterprise.  Let  not  him  who  is 
houseless  pull  down  the  house  of  another,  but  let  him  labor  dili- 
gently and  build  one  for  himself,  thus  by  example  assuring  him- 
self that  his  own  shall  be  safe  from  violence  when  built. 


Let  us  dare  to  be  noble  men,  nature's  own  pride, 

And  dare  to  be  true  to  each  other, 
For  the  earth  is  a  homestead  so  fruitful  and  wide, 
We  can  live,  we  can-  love,  ice  can  toil  side  by  side, 

And  each  unto  all  be  a  brother. 

— E.    T.   Jeffrey. 


101 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AFBIL    3 

See  thou  do  it  not :    .    .    .    worhip  God.     Revelation  22 : 9. 


35oto  to  (Bod 

(Said  to  some  colored  people  who  knelt  at  his  feet  and 
thanked  him  for  their  freedom  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  April 
4,  1865,  the  day  after  the  evacuation  of  the  city.) 

Don't  kneel  to  me — that  is  not  right.  You  must  kneel  to  God 
only,  and  thank  him  for  the  liberty  you  will  hereafter  enjoy.  I 
am  but  God's  humble  instrument;  but  you  may  rest  assured  that 
as  long  as  I  live  no  one  shall  put  a  shackle  on  your  limbs,  and 
you  shall  have  all  the  rights  which  God  has  given  to  any  other 
free  citizen  of  this  republic. 


O  Holy  Father! — just  and  true 

Are  all  thy  works  and  ivords  and  ways, 

And  unto  thee  alone  are  due 

Thanksgiving  and  eternal  praise! 

As  children  of  thy  gracious  care, 
We  veil  the  eye — we  bend  the  knee, 

With  broken  words  of  praise  and  prayer, 

Father  and  God,  we  come  to  thee. 

— Whittier. 


102 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    4 

The  Lord  shall  give  thee  rest  from  thy  sorrow,  and  n-om  thy  fear,  and 
from  the  hard  bondage  wherein  thou  wast  made  to  serr^.    Isaiah  14  :  3. 


te  gout 

(Said  to  colored  people  as  they  gathered  about  him  on  the 
streets  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  April  4,  1865.) 

My  poor  friends,  you  are  free — free  as  air.  You  can  cast  off  the 
name  of  slave  and  trample  upon  it;  it  will  come  to  you  no  more. 
Liberty  is  your  birthright.  God  gave  it  to  you  as  he  gave  it  to 
others,  and  it  is  a  sin  that  you  have  been  deprived  of  it  for  so 
many  years.  But  you  must  try  to  deserve  this  priceless  boon. 
Let  the  world  see  that  you  merit  it,  and  are  able  to  maintain  it 
by  your  good  works.  Don't  let  your  joy  carry  you  into  excesses; 
learii  the  laws,  and  obey  them.  Obey  God's  commandments,  and 
thank  him  for  giving  you  liberty,  for  to  him  you  owe  all  things. 
There,  now,  let  me  pass  on;  I  have  but  little  time  to  spare.  I 
want  to  see  the  Capitol,  and  must  return  at  once  to  Washington 
to  secure  to  you  that  liberty  which  you  seem  to  prize  so  highly. 


But  slaves  that  once  conceived  the  glowing  thought 

Of  freedom,  in  that  hope  itself  possess 

All  that  the  contest  calls  for — spirit,  strength, 

The  scorn  of  danger,  united  hearts, 

The  surest  presage  of  the  good  they  seek. 

— Cowper. 


103 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL    5 

Come  now  therefore,  and  let  us  take  counsel  together.     Nehemiah  6 :  7. 


Hlrron0tructton. 

(Extract  from  last  public  speech,  Washington,  April  11,  1865.) 

By  these  recent  successes,  the  re-inauguration  of  the  national 
authority,  reconstruction,  which  has  had  a  large  share  of  thought 
from  the  first,  is  pressed  much  more  closely  upon  our  attention. 
It  is  fraught  with  great  difficulty.  Unlike  a  case  of  war  between 
independent  nations,  there  is  no  authorized  organ  for  us  to  treat 
with.  No  one  man  has  authority  to  give  up  the  rebellion  for  any 
other  man.  We  simply  must  begin  and  mold  from  disorganized 
and  discordant  elements.  Nor  is  it  a  small  additional  embarrass- 
ment that  we,  the  loyal  people,  differ  among  ourselves  as  to  the 
mode,  manner,  and  means  of  reconstruction. 


O  make  thou  us,  through  centuries  long, 
In  peace  secure,  in  justice  strong; 
Around  our  gift  of  freedom  draw 
The  safeguards  of  thy  righteous  law, 
And,  cast  in  some  diviner  mold, 
Let  the  new  cycle  shame  the  old. 

— Whittier. 


104 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRII,,    6 

A  wise  man  is  strong ;   yea,  a  man  of  knowledge  increaseth  strength. 
Proverbs   24  •  5. 


(From  a  letter  written  April  6,  1859,  in  answer  to  a  note 
from  Springfield,  Illinois,  inviting  him  to  a  festival  in  honor 
of  Thomas  Jefferson's  birthday,  April  13.) 

All  honor  to  Jefferson;  to  a  man  v/ho,  in  the  concrete  pressure 
of  a  struggle  for  national  independence  by  a  single  people,  had  the 
coolness,  forecast,  and  capacity  to  introduce  into  a  merely  revo- 
lutionary document  an  abstract  truth,  applicable  to  all  men  and 
all  times,  and  so  to  embalm  it  there  that  to-day  and  in  all  coming 
days  it  shall  be  a  rebuke  and  stumbling-block  to  the  harbingers  of 
reappearing  tyranny  and  oppression. 


Great  truths  are  portions  of  the  soul  of  man; 

Great  souls  are  portions  of  eternity; 
Each  drop  of  blood  that  e'er  through  true  heart  ran 

With  lofty  message,  ran  for  thee  and  me; 
For  God's  law,  since  the  starry  song  began, 

Hath  been,  and  still  forevermore  must  be, 
That  every  deed  which  shall  outlast  life's  span, 

Must  goad  the  soul  to  be  erect  and  free. 

— J.   R.  Lowell. 


105 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    7 

A  man  that  hath  friends  must  show  himself  friendly.     Proverbs   18  :  24. 


friend, 


(Extract  from  a  letter  written  in  1842  to  the  groom  of  a 
newly  married  couple.) 

I  regret  to  learn  that  you  have  resolved  not  to  return  to  Illinois. 
I  shall  be  very  lonesome  without  you.  How  miserably  things 
seem  to  be  arranged  in  this  world!  If  we  have  no  friends  we 
have  no  pleasure;  and  if  we  have  them,  we  are  sure  to  lose  them, 
and  be  doubly  pained  by  the  loss.  I  did  hope  she  and  you  would 
make  your  home  here,  yet  I  own  I  have  no  right  to  insist.  You 
owe  obligations  to  her  ten  thousand  times  more  sacred  than  any 
you  can  owe  others,  and  in  that  light  let  them  be  respected  and 
observed.  It  is  natural  that  she  should  desire  to  remain  with  her 
relations  and  friends.  As  to  friends,  she  could  not  need  them 
anywhere  —  she  would  have  them  in  abundance  here. 


Oh,  friendship!  thou  balm  and  sweet'ner  of  life! 
Kind  parent  of  ease,  and  composer  of  strife! 
Without  thee,  alas !  what  are  riches  and  power 
But  empty  delusions,  the  joy  of  an  hour* 

— Mrs.  Margaret  Smith. 


106 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL    8 

Thou  art  unto  them  as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant 
voice,  and  can  play  well  on  an  instrument.     Ezekiel  33 :  32. 


SDteie. 

(Remarks  in  response  to  an  immense  multitude  gathered 
before  the  White  House,  April  10,  1865.) 

I  am  very  greatly  rejoiced  that  an  occasion  has  occurred  so 
pleasurable  that  the  people  can't  restrain  themselves.  I  suppose 
that  arrangements  are  being  made  for  some  sort  of  formal  dem- 
onstration, perhaps  this  evening  or  to-morrow  night.  If  there 
should  be  such  a  demonstration  I,  of  course,  shall  have  to  respond 
to  it,  and  I  shall  have  nothing  to  say  if  I  dribble  it  out  before.  I 
see  you  have  a  band.  I  propose  now  closing  up  by  requesting  you 
to  play  a  certain  air,  or  tune.  I  have  always  thought  "Dixie"  one 
of  the  best  tunes  I  ever  heard.  I  have  heard  that  our  adversaries 
over  the  way  have  attempted  to  appropriate  it  as  a  national  air. 
I  insisted  yesterday  that  we  had  fairly  captured  it.  I  presented 
the  question  to  the  Attorney  General,  and  he  gave  his  opinion 
that  it  is  our  lawful  prize.  I  ask  the  band  to  give  us  a  good  turn 
upon  it. 


Then  I  wish  I  was  in  Dixie  I  Hooray!  Hooray! 

In  Dixie's  Land  I'll  take  my  stand, 

To  live  and  die  in  Dixie. 
Away,  away,  away  down  South  in  Dixie. 

— Anonymous. 


107 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    9 

Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously ;  the  horse  and 
his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.    Exodus  15  :  21. 


(Blowup 

(To  a  large   crowd  assembled  in  front  of  the  Executive 
Mansion  late  in  afternoon,  April  10,  1865.) 

I  am  informed  that  you  have  assembled  here  this  afternoon 
under  the  impression  that  I  had  made  an  appointment  to  speak 
at  this  time.  This  is  a  mistake.  I  have  made  no  such  an  appoint- 
ment. More  or  less  persons  have  been  gathered  here  at  different 
times  during  the  day,  and  in  the  exuberance  of  their  feeling,  and 
for  all  of  which  they  are  greatly  justified,  calling  upon  me  to  say 
something,  and  I  have,  from  time  to  time,  been  sending  out  what 
I  suppose  was  proper  to  disperse  them  for  the  present.  I  said 
to  a  larger  audience  this  morning  what  I  desire  now  to  repeat. 
It  is  this:  That  I  supposed,  in  consequence  of  the  glorious  news 
we  have  been  receiving  lately,  there  is  to  be  some  general  demon- 
stration, either  on  this  or  to-morrow  evening  when  I  shall  be 
expected,  I  presume,  to  say  something. 


Loud  and  long 

Lift    the    old   exulting   song; 
Sing  with  Miriam  by  the  sea: 

He  has  cast  the  mighty  down, 
Horse  and  rider  sink  and  drown — 
He  has  triumphed  gloriously. 

— Whittier. 


108 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    10 

By  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be 
condemned.     Matthew   12  :  37. 


(In  response  to  a  large  crowd  in  front  of  the  White  House  on 
the  evening  of  April   10,    1865.      Continued  from  preceding 
page.) 

Just  here  I  will  remark  that  I  would  much  prefer  having  this 
demonstration  take  place  to-morrow  evening,  as  I  would  then  be 
much  better  prepared  to  say  what  I  have  to  say  than  I  am  now  or 
can  be  this  evening.  I  therefore  say  to  you  that  I  shall  be  quite 
willing,  and  I  hope  ready,  to  say  something  then;  whereas,  just 
now,  I  am  not  ready  to  say  something  that  one  in  my  position 
ought  to  say.  Everything  I  say,  you  know,  goes  into  print.  If  I 
make  a  mistake  it  doesn't  merely  affect  me,  or  you,  but  the  coun- 
try. I,  therefore,  ought  at  least  try  not  to  make  mistakes.  If, 
then,  a  general  demonstration  be  made  to-morrow  evening,  and  it 
is  agreeable,  I  will  endeavor  to  say  something,  and  not  make  a 
mistake,  without  at  least  trying  carefully  to  avoid  it.  Thanking 
you  for  the  compliment  of  this  call,  I  bid  you  good  evening. 


Words  arc  the  soul's  ambassadors,  who  go 
Abroad  upon  her  errands   to   and  fro; 
They  are  the  sole  expounders  of  the  mind 
And  correspondence  keep  'twixt  all  mankind. 

— Stillingfleet. 


109 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    11 

I  will  give  peace  In  the   land,  and  ye  shall  lie  down,  and  none  shall 
make  you  afraid.     Leviticus  26  :  6. 


anfc 

(Extract  from  last  public  speech,  Washington,  April  11,  1865.) 

We  meet  this  evening  not  in  sorrow,  but  in  gladness  of  heart. 
The  evacuation  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  and  the  surrender 
of  the  principal  insugent  army,  give  hope  of  a  righteous  and 
speedy  peace,  whose  joyous  expression  cannot  be  restrained.  In 
the  midst  of  this,  however,  He  from  whom  all  blessings  flow  must 
not  be  forgotten.  A  call  for  a  national  thanksgiving  is  being  pre- 
pared, and  will  be  duly  promulgated.  Nor  must  those  whose 
harder  part  gives  us  the  cause  of  rejoicing  be  overlooked.  Their 
honors  must  not  be  parceled  out  with  others.  I  myself  was  near 
the  front,  and  had  the  high  pleasure  of  transmitting  much  of  the 
good  news  to  you;  but  no  part  of  the  honor,  for  plan  or  execution, 
is  mine.  To  General  Grant,  his  skillful  officers  and  brave  men,  all 
belongs.  The  gallant  navy  stood  ready,  but  was  not  in  reach  to 
take  active  part. 


Brave  minds,  howe'er  at  war,  are  secret  friends, 
Their  generous  discord  with  the  battle  enil-s ; 
In  peace  they  wonder  ichence  dissension  rose, 
And  ask  how  souls  so  like  could  e'er  be  foes. 

— Tickell. 


110 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    12 

lie  that  handleth  a  matter  wisely  shall  find  good.     Proverbs  16  :  20. 


3fn  t&e  flUmon  or  flDut  ot  Jt. 

(Extract  from  last  public  speech,  Washington,  April  11,  1865.) 

We  all  agree  that  the  seceded  States,  so-called,  are  out  of  their 
proper,  practical  relation  with  the  Union,  and  that  the  sole  object 
of  the  Government,  civil  and  military,  in  regard  to  those  States, 
is  to  again  get  them  into  that  proper,  practical  relation.  I  believe 
it  is  not  only  possible,  but  in  fact  easier  to  do  this  without  de- 
ciding, or  even  considering,  whether  these  States  have  ever  been 
out  of  the  Union,  than  with  it.  Finding  themselves  safely  at 
home,  it  would  be  utterly  immaterial  whether  they  had  ever  been 
abroad.  Let  us  all  join  in  doing  the  acts  necessary  to  restoring 
the  proper,  practical  relations  between  these  States  and  the  Union, 
and  each  forever  after  innocently  indulge  his  own  opinion  whether 
in  doing  the  acts  he  brought  the  States  from  without  into  the 
Union,  or  only  gave  them  proper  assistance,  they  never  having 
been  out  of  it. 


ATo  more  shall  the  war-cry  sever, 

Or  the  winding  rivers  be  red; 
They  banish  our  anger  forever 

When  they  laurel  the  graves  of  our  dead! 
Under  the  sod  and  the  dew, 

Waiting  the  judgment  day ; 
Love  and,  tears  for  the  Blue, 

Tears  and  love  for  the  Gray. 

—F.  M.  Finch. 


Ill 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    13 

The  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.     II.  Timothy  4 :  6. 


Si  $re0*ntfnunt 

(To  a  newspaper  correspondent.) 
I  feel  a  presentiment  that  I  shall  not  outlast  the  Rebellion. 

(To  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.) 

Whichever  way  it  ends,  I  have  the  impression  that  I  shall  not 
last  long  after  it  is  over. 

(To  his  wife  one  day  in  April,  1865,  when   driving  by   a 
country  cemetery.) 

Mary,  you  are  younger  than  I.   You  will  survive  me.     When  I 
am  gone,  lay  my  remains  in  some  quiet  place  like  this. 


Beyond   the  smiling   and   the  weeping 

I  shall  be  soon; 

Beyond   the  leaking  and   the  sleeping, 
Beyond  the  sowing   and  the  reaping 

I  shall  be  soon. 

Beyond  the  parting  and  the  meeting 

I  shall  l>e  soon; 

Beyond  the  farewell  and  the  greeting, 
Beyond  this  pulse's  fever  beating 

I  shall  be  soon. 
Love,   rest,  and   home! 

— Horatius  Bonar. 


112 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    14    (Good    Friday,    1865) 

Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man  fallen  this  day  in 
Israel?     II.  Samuel  3:38. 


flfllar  10  iDiJtr—  3*r  ugalem. 


(To  Major  J.  B.  Merwin,  who  is  yet  living  in  Middlefleld, 
Conn.,  and  who,  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  stumped  the  State  of 
Illinois  for  Prohibition  in  1855,  on  the  morning  of  his  assas- 
sination, April  14,  18G5.) 

Mr.  Merwin,  after  Reconstruction  the  next  great  question  will 
be  the  overthrow  of  the  liquor  traffic. 

(To  his  wife,  while  out  driving  alone  in  the  afternoon  of 
his  last  day.) 

Mary,  we  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it  since  we  came  to  Wash- 
ington, but  I  consider  this  day  that  the  war  is  over.  We  must 
both  be  more  cheerful  in  the  future;  between  the  war  and  the 
loss  of  our  darling  Willie,  we  have  been  very  miserable. 

(Last  written  words,  given  to  Mr.  Ashmun  about  8  o'clock 
P.M.  of  the  fatal  evening.) 

Allow  Mr.  Ashmun  and  friend  to  come  in  at  9  A.M.  to-morrow.  — 

A.  Lincoln,  April  14,  1865. 

(Last  spoken  words  to  his  wife  just  before  the  assassin's 
bullet  entered  his  brain.) 

There  is  no  city  I  desire  so  much  to  see  as  Jerusalem. 


Jerusalem!  my  glorious  home! 

My  soul  still  pants  for  thee: 
Then  shall  my  labors  have  an  end, 

When  I  thy  joys  shall  see. 

— Francis  Baker. 


113 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,    15 

A  sound  of  battle  is  in  the  land,  and  of  great  destruction.       Jeremiah 
50 :  22. 


Call  for  ^rimttHibe  TOougand 

(Extracts  from  first  Proclamation,  calling  for  75,000  men, 
April  15,  1861.) 

Whereas,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  have  been  for  some  time 
past,  and  now  are  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof  obstructed, 
in  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mis- 
sissippi, Louisiana,  and  Texas,  by  a  combination  too  powerful  to 
be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,  or 
by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshals  by  law;  now,  therefore,  I, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the 
power  in  me  vested  by  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  have  thought 
fit  to  call  forth  and  hereby  do  call  forth  the  militia  of  the  several 
States  of  the  Union  to  the  aggregate  number  of  seventy-five  thou- 
sand, in  order  to  suppress  said  combination,  and  to  cause  the  laws 
to  be  duly  executed.  ...  In  every  event,  the  utmost  care  will  be 
observed,  consistently  with  the  objects  aforesaid,  to  avoid  any 
devastation,  any  destruction  of,  or  interference  with  property,  or 
any  disturbance  of  peaceful  citizens  of  any  part  of  the  country; 
and  I  hereby  command  the  persons  composing  the  combinations 
aforesaid  to  disperse  and  retire  peaceably  to  their  respective 
abodes  within  twenty  days  from  this  date. 


Then  conquer  we  must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just, 
And  this  be  our  motto,  "In  God  is  our  trust!" 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 

— Francis   Scott   Key. 


114 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


APRIL    16 

The  servant  is  free  from  his  master.     Job  3  : 19. 


sslabcrg  &bolte|)f  b  in  District  of  Columbia. 

(Congress  having  voted  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  the  President  signed  the  bill  April  16,  1862,  and 
sent  a  message  to  Congress.  The  following  is  an  extract 
from  the  message.) 

I  have  never  doubted  the  constitutional  authority  of  Congress 
to  abolish  slavery  in  this  District,  and  I  have  ever  desired  to  see 
the  National  Capital  freed  from  the  institution  in  some  satisfac- 
tory way.  Hence  there  has  never  been,  in  my  mind,  any  question 
upon  the  subject  except  the  one  of  expediency,  arising  in  view  of 
all  the  circumstances.  If  there  be  matters  within  and  about  this 
act  which  might  have  taken  a  course  or  shape  more  satisfactory 
to  my  judgment,  I  do  not  attempt  to  specify  them.  I  am  gratified 
that  the  two  principles  of  compensation  and  colonization  are  both 
recognized  and  practically  applied  in  the  act. 


Speed  on  thy  work,  Lord  God  of  Hosts! 

And  when  the  bondman's  chain  is  riven, 
And  stcells  from  all  our  guilty  coasts 

The  anthem  of  the  free  to  heaven, 
Oh,  not  to  those  whom  thou  hast  led 

As  with  thy  cloud  and  fire  before, 
But  unto   thce,  in   fear  and  dread, 

Be  praise  and  glory  evermore. 

— Whittier. 


115 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL    17 

They  shall  fight  against  thee ;  but  they  shall  not  prevail  against  thee ; 
for  I  am  with  thee,  saith  the  Lord,  to  deliver  thee.     Jeremiah  1 : 19. 


IStpel  force 


(Part  of  the  reply  to  a  committee  sent  by  the  Virginia 
Convention,  April  13,  1861,  to  ascertain  his  intended  policy 
toward  the  rebellious  States.) 

In  answer  I  have  to  say  that,  having  at  the  beginning  of  my 
official  term  expressed  my  intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I  was 
able,  it  is  with  deep  regret  and  mortification  I  now  learn  there  is 
great  and  injurious  uncertainty  in  the  public  mind  as  to  what 
that  policy  is,  and  what  course  I  intend  to  pursue.  Not  having  as 
yet  seen  occasion  to  change,  it  is  now  my  purpose  to  pursue  the 
course  marked  out  in  the  inaugural  address.  I  commend  a  care- 
ful consideration  of  the  whole  document  as  the  best  expression  I 
can  give  to  my  purpose.  ...  By  the  words,  "property  and  places 
belonging  to  the  Government,"  I  chiefly  allude  to  the  military 
posts  and  property  which  were  in  possession  of  the  Government 
when  it  came  into  my  hands.  But  if,  as  now  appears  to  be  true, 
in  pursuit  of  a  purpose  to  drive  the  United  States  authorities 
from  these  places,  an  unprovoked  assault  has  been  made  upon 
Fort  Sumter,  I  shall  hold  myself  at  liberty  to  repossess  it,  if  I 
can,  like  places  which  had  been  seized  before  the  Government  was 
devolved  upon  me;  and  in  any  event  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  repel  force  by  force. 


Each  soldier's  name 

Shall  shine  untarnished  on  the  rolls  of  fame, 
And  stand  the  example  of  each  distant  age, 
And  add  new  luster  to  the  historic  page. 

— David    Humphreys. 


116 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL   18 

Take  heed  lest  by  any  means  this  liberty  of  yours  become  a  stumbling- 
block  to  them  that  are  weak.     I.  Corinthians  8  :  9. 


2Def  inition  ot  t&e  flfllorti  "Et 


(Extract  from  an  address  delivered  April  18,  1864,  at  a 
fair  held  at  Baltimore  for  benefit  of  United  States  Sanitary 
Commission.) 

When  the  war  commenced  three  years  ago,  no  one  expected  that 
it  would  last  this  long,  and  no  one  supposed  that  the  institution 
of  slavery  \\ould  be  materially  affected  by  it.  But  here  we  are. 
The  war  is  not  yet  ended,  and  slavery  has  been  materially  affected 
or  interfered  with.  So  true  it  is  that  man  proposes  and  God  dis- 
poses. The  world  is  in  want  of  a  good  definition  of  the  word  "lib- 
erty." We  all  declare  ourselves  to  be  for  liberty,  but  we  do  not  all 
mean  the  same  thing.  Some  men  mean  that  a  man  can  do  as  he 
pleases  with  himself  and  his  property.  With  others,  it  means 
that  some  men  can  do  as  they  please  with  other  men  and  other 
men's  labor.  Each  of  these  things  is  called  liberty,  although 
they  are  entirely  different.  To  give  an  illustration:  A  shepherd 
drives  the  wolf  from  the  throat  of  his  sheep  when  attacked  by 
him,  and  the  sheep,  of  course,  thanks  the  shepherd  for  the  pre- 
servation of  his  life;  but  the  wolf  denounces  him  as  despoiling 
the  sheep  of  his  liberty  —  especially  if  it  be  a  black  sheep. 


Canst  thou,  and  honor'd  with  a  Christian  name, 
Buy  what  is  woman-born,  and  feel  no  shame f 
Trade  in  the  blood  of  innocence,  and  plead 
Expedience  as  a  warrant  for  the  deedt 
So  may  the  wolf,  whom  famine  has  made  bold 
To  quit  the  forest  and  invade  the  fold. 

— Cowpcr. 


117 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL   19 

The  Father,  who  without  respect  of  persons  judgeth  according  to  every 
man's  work.     I.  Peter  1 : 17. 


2Macfe 

(Extract  from  a  speech  delivered  at  a  Sanitary  Fair,  April 
18,  1864.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  it  was  doubtful  whether  black 
men  would  be  used  as  soldiers  or  not.  The  matter  was  examined 
into  very  carefully,  and  after  mature  deliberation,  the  whole  mat- 
ter resting,  as  it  were,  with  himself  [the  President],  he,  in  his 
judgment,  decided  that  they  should.  He  was  responsible  for  the 
act  to  the  American  people,  to  a  Christian  nation,  to  the  future 
historian,  and,  above  all,  to  his  God,  to  whom  he  would  have,  one 
day,  to  render  an  account  of  his  stewardship.  He  would  now  say 
that  in  his  opinion  the  black  soldier  should  have  the  same  protec- 
tion as  the  white  soldier,  and  he  would  have  it. 


"Now,"  the  flag-sergeant  cried, 
"Though  death  and  hell  betide, 
Let   the  whole  nation  see 
If  we  are  fit  to  'be 
Free  in  this  land,  or  'bound 
Down,  like  the  whining  hound — 
Bound  with  red  stripes  of  pain 
In  our  cold  chains  again!" 
O  what  a  shout  there  went 
From  the  black  regiment! 

— George  Henry  Baker. 


118 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,  20 

Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands ;  and  let  her  own  works  praise  her  in 
the  gates.     Proverbs  31 :  31. 


Jt 

(Said  to  a  legal  friend  after  receiving  $500  in  a  criminal 
case,  soon  after  he  commenced  the  practice  of  law.) 

Look  here,  Judge,  see  what  a  heap  of  money  I  've  got  from  the 

case.     Did  you  ever  see  anything  like  it?     Why,  I  never 

had  so  much  money  in  my  life  before,  put  it  all  together.  I  have 
got  just  five  hundred  dollars;  if  it  were  only  seven  hundred  and 
fifty,  I  would  go  directly  and  purchase  a  quarter  section  of  land 
and  settle  it  upon  my  old  stepmother. 

(His  friend  proposed  to  loan  him  the  deficiency,  and  sug- 
gested that  the  property  be  for  her  use,  to  revert  to  Lincoln 
upon  her  death.) 

I  shall  do  no  such  thing.  It  is  a  poor  return,  at  the  best,  for  all 
the  good  woman's  devotion  and  fidelity  to  me,  and  there  is  not 
going  to  be  any  half-way  business  about  it. 


/  live  for  those  who  love  me, 

Whose  hearts  are  kind  and  true; 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me 

And  waits  my  spirit  too; 
For  all  human  ties   that  bind  me, 
For  the  tasks  my  God  assigned  me, 
For  the  bright  hopes   left   behind  me, 
And  all   the  good   that  I  can   do. 

— Byron. 


119 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL  21 

Let  all   your   things   be   done  with   charity.      I.   Corinthians   16 :  14. 


Common  lEU&Ijtg  of  Citing. 

(To  a  prominent  lady,  In  the  winter  of  1864,  who  requested 
the  suppression  of  a  certain  influential  Chicago  newspaper.) 

I  fear  you  do  not  fully  comprehend  the  danger  of  abridging  the 
liberties  of  the  people.  Nothing  but  the  very  sternest  necessity 
can  ever  justify  it.  A  government  had  better  go  to  the  very 
extreme  of  toleration  than  to  do  aught  that  could  be  construed 
into  an  interference  with,  or  to  jeopardize  in  any  degree,  the  com- 
mon rights  of  its  citizens. 


Would  you  both  please  and  be  instructed,  too, 
Watch  well  the  rage  of  shining,   to  subdue; 
Hear  every  man  upon  his  favorite  theme, 
And  ever  be  more  knowing  than  you  seem. 
The  lowest  genius  will  afford  some  light, 
Or  give  a  hint  that  ?iad  escaped  your  sight. 

— Stillingfleet, 


120 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,  22   (Arbor  Day) 

I  made  me  gardens  and  orchards,  and  I  planted  trees  In  them  of  all 
kind  of  fruits.     Ecclesiastes  2  :  5. 


(Said  in  the  presence  of  some  ladies  visiting  the  Soldiers' 
Home  at  Washington.) 

Let  me  discourse  on  a  theme  which  I  understand.  I  know  all 
about  trees  in  the  light  of  being  a  back  woodsman.  I'll  show  you 
the  difference  between  spruce,  pine,  and  cedar,  and  this  shred  of 
green,  which  is  neither  one  nor  the  other,  but  a  kind  of  illegiti- 
mate cypress.  Trees  are  as  deceptive  in  their  likeness  to  one 
another  as  are  certain  classes  of  men,  amongst  whom  none  but  a 
physiognomist  eye  can  discern  dissimilar  moral  features  until 
events  have  developed  them. 


Give  fools  their  gold  and  knaves  their  power; 

Let  fortune's  bubbles  rise  and  fall; 
Who  sows  a  field,  or  trains  a  flower, 

Or  plants  a  tree  is  more  than  all. 

For  he  who   blesses  most  is  blest; 

And  God  and  man  shall  own  his  worth, 
Who  toils  to  leave  as  his  bequest 

An  added  beauty   to   the   earth. 

—Whittier. 


121 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,  23 

Children    .    .    .    skillful  in  all  wisdom,   and  cunning  in  knowledge,  and 
understanding  science,  and  such  as  had  ability  in  them.     Daniel  1 : 4. 


ot  &tnt&. 

(Continued  from  conversation  mentioned  on  preceding  page.) 

Do  you  know  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  in  all  the  schools  pro- 
posed and  carried  out  by  the  improvement  of  modern  thinkers, 
we  could  have  a  school  of  events?  It  is  only  by  that  active  devel- 
opment that  character  and  ability  can  be  tested.  Understand  me, 
I  now  mean  men,  not  trees;  they  can  be  tried,  and  an  analysis  of 
their  strength  obtained  less  expensive  to  life  and  human  interests 
than  man's.  What  I  say  now  is  a  mere  whimsey,  you  know;  but 
when  I  speak  of  a  school  of  events,  I  mean  one  in  which,  before 
entering  real  life,  students  might  pass  through  the  mimic  vicissi- 
tudes and  situations  that  are  necessary  to  bring  out  their  powers 
and  mark  the  calibre  to  which  they  are  assigned.  Thus  one  could 
select  from  the  graduates  an  invincible  soldier,  equal  to  any  posi- 
tion, with  no  such  word  as  "fail";  a  martyr  to  Right,  ready  to  give 
up  life  in  the  cause;  a  politician  too  cunning  to  be  outwitted;  and 
so  on.  These  things  have  all  to  be  tried,  and  their  sometimes 
failure  creates  confusion  as  well  as  disappointment.  There  is  no 
more  dangerous  or  expensive  analysis  than  that  which  consists  of 
trying  a  man. 


For  noble  youth,  there  is  no  thing  so  meet 
As  learning  is,  to  know  the  good  from  ill: 
To  know  the  tongues,  and  perfectly  indite, 
And  of  the  laws  to  have  a  perfect  skill 
Things  to  perform  as  right  and  justice  will; 
For  honor  is  ordained  for  no  cause 
But  to  see  right  maintained  by  the  laws. 

— Cavil. 


122 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,   24 

Put  them  In  mind  to  be  subject  to  principalities  and  powers.    Titus  3 : 1. 


to  2Do  flDur  SDutp. 

(From  a  speech  at  Leaven  worth,  Kansas,  in  spring  of  1860.) 

If  we  shall  constitutionally  elect  a  president,  it  will  be  our  duty 
to  see  that  you  also  submit.  Old  John  Brown  has  been  executed 
for  treason  against  a  State.  We  cannot  object,  even  though  he 
agreed  with  us  in  thinking  slavery  wrong.  That  cannot  excuse 
violence,  bloodshed,  and  treason.  It  could  avail  him  nothing  that 
he  might  think  himself  right.  So,  if  we  constitutionally  elect  a 
president,  and,  therefore,  you  undertake  to  destroy  the  Union,  it 
will  be  our  duty  to  deal  with  you  as  old  John  Brown  has  been 
dealt  with.  We  shall  try  to  do  our  duty.  We  hope  and  believe 
that  in  no  section  will  a  majority  so  act  as  to  render  such  extreme 
measure  necessary. 


Stern  duty,  daughter  of  the  voice  of  God! 

O  duty!  if  that  name  thou  love, 
Who  art  a   light  to  guide,  a  rod 

To  check  the  erring  and  reprove; 
Thou  who  art  victory  and  law, 
When  empty  terrors  overawe, 
Give  unto  me,  made  lowly  wise, 
The  spirit  of  self-sacrifice. 

— Wordsworth. 


123 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,  25 

Many  bulls  have  compassed  me :  strong  bulls  of  Bashan  have  beset  me 
round.     Psalms  22  :  12. 


Si  garti  jfull  of  <2Dl& 

(To  a  gentleman  who  was  very  strongly  pressing  the  pro- 
motion of  an  officer  to  a  "Brigadiership.") 

But  we  have  already  more  generals  than  we  know  what  to  do 
with.  Now,  look  here,  you  are  a  farmer,  I  believe;  if  not,  you 
will  understand  me.  Suppose  you  had  a  large  cattleyard  full  of 
all  sorts  of  cattle — cows,  oxen,  bulls — and  you  kept  killing  and 
selling  and  disposing  of  your  cows  and  oxen,  in  one  way  and 
another — taking  good  care  of  your  bulls.  By  and  by  you  would 
find  that  you  had  nothing  but  a  yard  full  of  old  bulls,  good  for 
nothing  under  heaven.  Now,  it  will  be  just  so  with  the  army,  if 
I  don't  stop  making  brigadier-generals. 


In  the  world's  broad  fteld  of  tattle, 

In  the  bivouac  of  life, 
Be  not  like  dumb,  driven  cattle! 

Be  a  hero  in  the  strife. 

— Longfellow. 


124 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,  26 

Every  one  in  his  business.     Nehemlah  13  :  30. 


Bu0in£00,  jRot 


(From  a  speech  at  National  Hotel,  Washington,  March  17, 
1865.      See  March  17.) 

There  are  but  few  views  or  aspects  of  this  great  war  upon 
which  I  have  not  said  or  written  something,  whereby  my  own 
opinion  might  be  known.  But  there  is  one  —  the  recent  attempt 
of  our  erring  brethren,  as  they  are  sometimes  called,  to  employ 
the  negro  to  fight  for  them.  I  have  neither  written  nor  made  a 
speech  on  that  subject,  because  that  was  their  business,  not  mine; 
and  if  I  had  a  wish  upon  the  subject,  I  had  not  the  power  to  intro- 
duce it,  or  make  it  effective.  The  great  question  with  them  was 
whether  the  negro,  being  put  into  the  army,  will  fight  for  them. 
I  do  not  know,  and  therefore  cannot  decide.  They  ought  to  know 
better  than  we.  I  have  in  my  lifetime  heard  many  arguments 
why  the  negroes  ought  to  be  slaves;  but  if  they  fight  for  those 
who  would  keep  them  in  slavery,  it  will  be  a  better  argument  than 
I  have  yet  heard.  He  who  will  fight  for  that  ought  to  be  a  slave. 


The  negro,  spoiled  of  all  that  nature  gave, 
The  free-born  man  thus  shrank  into  a  slave, 
His  passive  limbs  to  measured  looks  confined, 
Obey'd  the  Impulse  of  another  mind; 
A  silent,  secret,  terrible  control 
That  ruled  his  sinews  and  repress'd  his  soul. 
Not  for  himself  he  leaked  at  morning  light, 
Toiled  the  long  day,  and  sought  repose  at  night, 
His  rest,  his  labor,  pastime,  strength,  and  health 
Were  only  portions  of  a  master's  icealth. 

— M  on  tgomery. 


125 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL,  27 

Behold,  I  will  make  thee  know  what  shall  be  in  the  last  end  of  the  indig- 
nation.    Daniel  8  :  19. 


fl£n&  jRear  at 


(From  speech  delivered   at  Washington,  March  17,   1865. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

While  I  have  often  said  that  all  men  ought  to  be  free,  yet  would 
I  allow  those  colored  persons  to  be  slaves  who  want  to  be,  and 
next  to  them  those  white  people  who  argue  in  favor  of  making 
other  people  slaves.  I  will  say  one  thing  in  regard  to  the  negroes 
being  employed  to  fight  for  them.  I  do  know  he  cannot  fight  and 
stay  at  home  and  make  bread  too;  and  as  one  is  about  as  impor- 
tant as  the  other  to  them,  I  don't  care  which  they  do.  ...  But 
they  cannot  fight  and  work  both.  We  must  now  see  the  bottom  of 
the  enemy's  resources.  They  will  stand  out  as  long  as  they  can, 
and  if  the  negro  will  fight  for  them,  they  must  allow  him  to  fight. 
They  have  drawn  upon  their  last  branch  of  resources,  and  we  can 
now  see  the  bottom.  I  am  glad  to  see  the  end  so  near  at  hand. 


'Mid  the  din  of  arms,  when  the  dust  and  smoke 

In  clouds  are  curling  o'er  thee, 
Be  firm  till  the  enemy's  ranks  are  broke, 

And  they  fall  or  flee  before  thee! 
But  I  would  not  have  thee  towering  stand 

O'er  him  who  's  for  mercy  crying, 
But   6<n0   to   the  earth,  and  with  tender  hand 

Raise  up  the  faint  and  dying. 

— Miss  Gould. 


126 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL  28 

They  shall  march  every  one  on  his  ways,  and  they  shall  not  break  their 
ranks.     Joel  2  :  7. 


t  or 

(Reply  to  a  Baltimore  committee,  April  28,  1861,  request- 
ing that  soldiers  be  not  allowed  to  march  through  Maryland.) 

You,  gentlemen,  come  here  to  me  and  ask  for  peace  on  any 
terms,  and  yet  have  no  word  of  condemnation  for  those  who  are 
making  war  on  us.  You  express  great  horror  of  bloodshed,  and 
yet  would  not  lay  a  straw  in  the  way  of  those  who  are  organizing 
in  Virginia  and  elsewhere  to  capture  this  city.  The  rebels  attack 
Fort  Sumter,  and  your  citizens  attack  troops  sent  to  the  defense 
of  the  Government,  and  the  lives  and  property  in  Washington,  and 
yet  you  would  have  me  break  my  oath  and  surrender  the  Govern- 
ment without  a  blow.  There  is  no  Washington  in  that — no  Jack- 
son in  that — no  manhood  nor  honor  in  that.  I  have  no  desire  to 
invade  the  South;  but  I  must  have  troops  to  defend  this  Capital. 
Geographically  it  lies  surrounded  by  the  soil  of  Maryland;  and 
mathematically  the  necessity  exists  that  they  should  come  over 
her  territory.  Our  men  are  not  moles,  and  can't  dig  under  the 
earth;  they  are  not  birds,  and  can't  fly  through  the  air.  There  is 
no  way  but  to  march  across,  and  that  they  must  do.  But  in  doing 
this  there  is  no  need  of  collision.  Keep  your  rowdies  in  Balti- 
more, and  there  will  be  no  bloodshed.  Go  home  and  tell  your 
people  that  if  they  will  not  attack  us,  we  will  not  attack  them; 
but  if  they  do  attack  us,  we  will  return  it,  and  that  severely. 


The  traitor's  foot  is  on  thy  soil,  Maryland,  my  Maryland! 
Let  not  his  touch  thi/  honor  spoil,  Maryland,  my  Maryland! 
Wipe  out  the  unpatriotic  gore  that  fleck'd  the  streets  of  Baltimore, 
And  be  the  loyal  State  o£  yore,  Maryland,  my  Maryland. 

— Anonymous. 


127 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


APRIL  29 

And  one  went  out  Into  the  field  to  gather  herbs.  .  .  .  And  It  came  to 
pass,  as  they  were  eating  of  the  pottage,  that  they  cried  out,  and  said,  O 
thou  man  of  God,  there  is  death  in  the  pot.  II.  Kings  4  :  39,  40. 


CBreeng—  {ttg  TOtm  on 


(To  a  delegation  of  bankers,  protesting  to  severity  of  Con- 
gress in  taxing  State  Banks.) 

Now  that  reminds  me  of  a  circumstance  that  took  place  in  a 
neighborhood  where  I  lived  when  I  was  a  boy.  In  the  spring  of 
the  year  the  farmers  were  very  fond  of  the  dish  which  they  called 
"greens."  One  day  after  dinner,  a  large  family  were  taken  very 
ill.  The  doctor  was  called  in,  who  attributed  it  to  the  greens,  of 
which  all  had  freely  partaken.  Living  in  the  family  was  a  half- 
witted boy  named  Jake.  On  a  subsequent  occasion,  when  greens 
had  been  gathered  for  dinner,  the  head  of  the  house  said,  "Now, 
boys,  before  running  any  further  risk  in  this  thing,  we  will  first 
try  them  on  Jake.  If  he  stands  it,  we  are  all  right."  And  just 
so,  I  suppose,  Congress  thought  it  would  try  this  tax  on  the 
State  Banks. 


/  have  lived  long  enough  to  be  rarely  mistaken, 

And  had  my  full  share  of  life's  cJiangeable  scenes ; 
But  my  woes  have  been  solaced  by  good  greens  and  bacon, 

And  my  joys  have  been  doubled  by  bacon  and  greens. 
What  a  thrill  of  remembrance  e'en  now  they  awaken 

Of  childhood's  gay  morning,  and  youth's  sunny  scenes; 
When,  one  day  we  had  greens  and  a  plateful  of  bacon, 

And  the  next  ice  had  bacon  and  a  plateful  of  greens. 

— Ano-nymous. 


12! 


A.   LINCOLN     From  an  Early 


Tin'  IJiicuhi   l-'<iinili/  at  the   \\'hHc  Ifousc   . 


APRIL  30 

At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent.     Proverbs  23  :  22. 


Serpent 


(To  a  number  of  Kentuckians  who  insisted  that  troops 
should  not  be  sent  through  their  State  to  put  down  the  war 
in  Tennessee.) 

I  am  a  good  deal  like  the  farmer  who,  returning  to  his  home  one 
winter  night,  found  his  two  sweet  little  boys  asleep  with  a  hideous 
serpent  crawling  over  their  bodies.  He  could  not  strike  the  ser- 
pent without  wounding  or  killing  the  children,  so  he  calmly 
waited  until  it  had  moved  away.  Now,  I  do  not  want  to  act  in  a 
hurry  about  this  matter;  I  don't  want  to  hurt  anybody  in  Ken- 
tucky; but  I  will  get  the  serpent  out  of  Tennessee. 


Thinkest  thou  there  are  no  serpents  in  the  world 
But  those  which  glide  along  the  grassy  sod 
And  sting  the  luckless  foot  that  presses  themf 
There  are,  icho,  in  the  path  of  social  life, 
Do  task  their  spotted  skins  in  Fortune's  sun 
And  sting  the  soul — aye,  till  its  healthful  frame 
Is  chang'd   to  secret,  festering,   sore  disease, 
80  deadly  is  the  wound. 

— Anonymous. 


129 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  1 

A  time  to  keep  silence,   and  a  time  to  speak.     Eccleslastes  3 :  7. 


fitting  &CHU0  of  tljc  Present. 

(From  address  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio,  at  Colum- 
bus, February  13,  1861.) 

There  has  fallen  upon  me  a  task  which  did  not  rest  even  upon 
the  Father  of  his  Country,  and  so  feeling,  I  cannot  but  turn  and 
look  for  the  support  without  which  it  will  be  impossible  for  me 
to  perform  that  great  task.  I  turn,  then,  and  look  to  the  great 
American  people,  and  to  that  God  who  has  never  forsaken  them. 
Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  interest  felt  in  relation  to  the 
policy  in  the  new  administration.  In  this  I  have  received  from 
some  a  degree  of  credit  for  having  kept  silence,  and  from  others 
some  depreciation.  I  still  think  that  I  was  right.  In  the  varying 
and  repeatedly  shifting  scenes  of  the  present,  and  without  a  prece- 
dent which  could  enable  me  to  judge  by  the  past,  it  has  seemed 
fitting  that  before  speaking  upon  the  difficulties  of  the  country,  I 
should  have  gained  a  view  of  the  whole  field  so  as  to  be  sure  after 
all — at  liberty  to  modify  and  change  the  course  of  policy  as  future 
events  may  make  a  change  necessary.  I  have  not  maintained 
silence  from  any  want  of  real  anxiety. 


/  ask  not  that  for  me  the  plan 

Of  good  and  ill  be  set  aside, 
But  that  the  common  lot  of  man 

Be  nobly  borne  and  glorified. 
And  that,  though  it  be  mine  to  know 

How  hard  the  stoniest  pillow  seems, 
Good  angels  still  may  come  and  go 
About  the  places  of  my  dreams. 

— Phoebe    Gary. 


130 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  2 

Be  thou  strong  therefore,  and  show  thyself  a  man.     I.   Kings  2 :  2. 


Hearting  ^otoarto  (Brant. 

(To  General  John  M.  Thayer,  in  early  part  of  the  Rebellion.) 

Somehow  or  other,  I  have  always  felt  a  leaning  toward  Grant, 
and  have  been  inclined  to  place  confidence  in  him.  Ever  since  he 
sent  that  memorable  message  to  Buckner  at  Donelson,  when  the 
latter  asked  for  terms  of  surrender — "No  terms  but  unconditional 
surrender;  I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your  works" — I 
have  had  great  confidence  in  Grant,  and  have  felt  that  he  was  a 
man  I  could  tie  to,  though  I  have  never  seen  him.  It  is  a  source 
of  much  satisfaction  that  my  confidence  in  him  has  not  been  mis- 
placed. 

(To  Mr.   F.   B.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  in  1864.) 

The  great  thing  about  Grant,  I  take  it,  is  his  perfect  coolness 
and  persistency  of  purpose.  I  judge  he  is  not  easily  excited,  which 
is  a  great  element  in  an  officer,  and  has  the  grit  of  a  bulldog! 
Once  let  him  get  his  "teeth"  in,  and  nothing  can  shake  him  off. 


Stick  to  your  aim;  the  mongrel's  hold  will  slip, 
But  only  crowbars  loose  the  bulldog's  lip; 
Small  as  he  looks,  the  jaw  that  never  yields 
Drags  doicn  the  bellowing  monarch  of  the  fields. 

— O.  W.  Holmes. 


131 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  3 

About  forty  thousand  prepared  for  war  passed  over  before  the  Lord  unto 
battle.     Joshua  4  : 13. 


jfor  a  period  of 


(Proclamation  Issued  May  3,  1861,  calling  for  42,000  addi- 
tional volunteers.) 

Whereas,  existing  exigencies  demand  immediate  and  adequate 
measures  for  the  protection  of  the  National  Constitution  and  the 
preservation  of  the  National  Union  by  the  suppression  of  the  in- 
surrectionary combination  now  existing  in  several  States  for 
opposing  the  laws  of  the  Union,  and  obstructing  the  execution 
thereof,  to  which  end  a  military  force,  in  addition  to  that  called 
forth  by  my  proclamation  of  the  fifteenth  of  April  in  the  present 
year,  appears  to  be  indispensably  necessary;  now,  therefore,  I, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Army  and  Navy  thereof,  and  of  the  militia 
of  the  several  States  when  called  into  actual  service,  do  hereby 
call  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  forty-two  thousand  and 
thirty-four  volunteers,  to  serve  for  a  period  of  three  years,  unless 
sooner  discharged,  and  to  be  mustered  into  service  as  infantry 
and  cavalry. 


Listen,  young  heroes  !  your  country  is  calling ! 

Time  strikes  the  hour  for  the  brave  and  the  true  I 
Now,  while  the  foremost  are  fighting  and  falling, 

Fill  up  the  ranks  that  have  opened  for  you. 

— O.  W.  Holmes. 


132 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  4 

There  is  an  accursed  thing  in  the  midst  of  thee ;    .    .    .    take  away  the 
arciu'srd  thing  from  among  you.      Joshua  7  :  13. 


(Btatmal  £!}0lt0f)mrnt  of 


(A  recommendation  to  Congress,  March  6,   1862.) 

I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution  by  your  honor- 
able bodies,  which  shall  be  substantially  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate  with  any 
State  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giving  to 
such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State  in  its  discre- 
tion, to  compensate  for  the  inconvenience,  both  public  and  private, 
produced  by  such  change  of  system.  .  .  .  While  it  is  true  that  the 
adoption  of  the  proposed  resolution  would  be  merely  initiatory, 
and  not  within  itself  a  practical  measure,  it  is  recommended  in 
the  hope  that  it  would  soon  lead  to  important  practical  results. 
In  full  view  of  my  great  responsibility  to  my  God  and  to  my 
country,  I  earnestly  beg  the  attention  of  Congress  and  the  people 
to  the  subject. 


Hasten  the  day,  just  Heaven! 

Accomplish  thy  design; 
And  let  the  blessings  thou  hast  freely  given, 

Freely  on  all  men  shine; 
Till  equal  rights  be  equally  enjoy'd, 
And  human  power  for  human  good  employ'd; 
Till  late,  and  not  the  sovereign,  rule  sustain, 
And  peace  and  virtue  undisputed  reign. 

— Henry  Ware,  Jr. 


133 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  5 

The  wisdom  of  the  prudent  is  to  understand  his  way.     Proverbs  14 : 8. 


(Prom   a  letter  to   A.   G.   Hedges,   Franfort,   Kentucky, 
April   4,    1864.) 

I  am  naturally  anti-slavery.  If  slavery  is  not  wrong,  nothing 
is  wrong.  I  cannot  remember  when  I  did  not  so  think  and  feel. 
And  yet  I  have  never  understood  that  the  Presidency  conferred 
upon  me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act  officially  upon  this  judgment 
and  feeling.  It  was  in  the  oath  I  took,  that  I  would,  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  I  could  not  take  the  office  without  taking  the  oath. 
Nor  was  it  my  view  that  I  might  take  an  oath  to  get  power,  and 
break  the  oath  in  using  the  power.  I  understood,  too,  that,  in 
ordinary  civil  administration,  this  oath  even  forbade  me  to  prac- 
tically indulge  my  primary,  abstract  judgment  on  the  moral  ques- 
tion of  slavery.  I  had  publicly  declared  this  many  times,  and  in 
many  ways.  And  I  aver  that,  to  this  day,  I  have  done  no  official 
act  in  mere  deference  to  my  abstract  judgment  and  feeling  on 
slavery. 


Sun  of  the  moral  world  I  effulgent  source 
Of  man's  best  wisdom  and  his  steadiest  force, 
Soul-searching  Freedom!  here  assume  thu  stand, 
And  radiate  hence  to  every  distant  land. 

— Joel  Barlow. 


134 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  6 

He  shall  not  fall  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the 
earth.     Isaiah  42  :  4. 


palpable 


(Prom  a  letter  to  A.  G.  Hodges,  April  4,  1864.     Continued 
from  preceding  page.) 

When,  in  March  and  May  and  July,  1862,  I  made  earnest  and 
successive  appeals  to  the  Border  States  to  favor  compensated 
emancipation,  I  believed  the  indispensable  necessity  for  military 
emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  would  come,  unless  averted 
by  that  measure.  They  declined  the  proposition,  and  I  was,  in  my 
best  judgment,  driven  to  the  alternative  of  either  surrendering 
the  Union,  and  with  it  the  Constitution,  or  of  laying  strong  hand 
upon  the  colored  element.  I  chose  the  latter.  In  choosing  it,  I 
hoped  for  greater  gain  than  loss;  but  of  this  I  was  entirely  confi- 
dent. More  than  a  year  of  trial  can  show  no  loss  by  it,  in  our 
foreign  relations;  none  in  our  home  popular  sentiment;  none  in 
our  white  military  force — no  loss  by  it  anyhow  or  anywhere.  On 
the  contrary,  it  shows  a  gain  of  quite  a  hundred  and  thirty  thou- 
sand soldiers,  seamen,  and  laborers.  These  are  palpable  facts, 
about  which,  as  facts,  there  can  be  no  caviling.  We  have  the 
men,  and  we  could  not  have  had  them  without  the  measure. 


There  was  something 

In  my  native  air  that  buoyed  my  spirits  up 
Like  a  ship  on  the  ocean  tossed  by  storms, 
But  proudly  still  bestriding  the  hi(;h  waves 
And  holding  on  her  course. 

— Byron. 


135 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


MAY  7 

The    whole    disposing    thereof    Is   of    the    Lord.      Proverbs    16 :  33. 


(Efcentg  ^abe  Controlled 

(From   letter   addressed  to  A.    G.    Hodges,   April    4,    1864. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

I  attempt  no  compliments  to  my  own  sagacity.  I  claim  not  to 
have  controlled  events,  but  confess  plainly  that  events  have  con- 
trolled me.  Now,  at  the  end  of  three  years'  struggle,  the  Nation's 
condition  is  not  what  either  party  or  any  man  devised  or  expected. 
God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending,  seems  plain.  If 
God  now  wills  the  removal  of  a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also  that 
•we  of  the  North,  as  well  as  you  of  the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for 
our  complicity  in  that  wrong,  impartial  history  will  find  therein 
new  cause  to  attest  and  revere  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God. 


The  future  faith  must  ever  souls  inspire 

With  loftiest  love  of  goodness,  justice,  truth, 

Imbue,  head,  hand,  and  heart  with  strong  desire 

To  lift  humanity  to  higher  plains,  to  teach  the  youth 

That  all  are  children  of  one  common  Sire, 

Who  loves  to  have  his  offspring  mounting  higher,  higher, 

Cementing  in  one    vast,  all-comprehending  family 

The  nations  of  to-day  with  the  nations  that  are  yet  to  'be. 

This  creed,  the  essence  of  our  holy  Christianity, 

Shall  fill  the  world  and  last  through  all  eternity. 

— Anonymous. 


136 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  8 

Many  are  my  persecutors  and  mine  enemies ;  yet  do  I  not  decline  from 
thy  testimonies.     Psalms  119  :  157. 


on 

(To  an  army  officer.) 

If  I  were  to  try  to  read,  much  less  answer  all  the  attacks  made 
on  me,  this  shop  might  as  well  be  closed  for  any  other  business. 
I  do  the  very  best  I  know  how — the  very  best  I  can;  and  I  mean 
to  keep  doing  so  until  the  end.  If  the  end  brings  me  out  all  right, 
what  is  said  against  me  won't  amount  to  anything.  If  the  end 
brings  me  out  wrong,  ten  angels  swearing  I  was  right  would  make 
no  difference. 


He  knows  it  all — how  tired  I  grew 

When  pressing  duties  that  I  knew 
Were  mine,  I  left  in  part  undone, 

And  how  I  grieved  at  set  of  sun, 
And  could  not  rest  till  his  sweet  tone 

Of  calming  love  had  gently  shown 
Me  that  he  did  not  blame — he  knew 

That  I  had  tried  my  best  to  do. 

— Anonymous. 


137 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  9 

Enter  into  his  gates  with  thanksgiving,  and  into  his  courts  with  praise  ; 
be  thankful  unto  him,  and  bless  his  name.     Psalms  100  :  4. 


Special  (Bratitu&e  ta 

(Prayer  and  Thanksgiving  Proclamation,  issued  May  9,  1864.) 

To  THE  FRIENDS  OF  UNION  AND  LIBERTY:  Enough  is  known  of 
army  operations  within  the  last  five  days  to  claim  our  special 
gratitude  to  God.  While  what  remains  undone  demands  our  most 
serious  prayers  to,  and  reliance  upon  Him  (without  whom  all 
human  effort  is  vain),  I  recommend  that  all  patriots,  at  their 
homes,  at  their  places  of  public  worship,  and  wherever  they  may 
be,  unite  in  common  thanksgiving  and  prayer  to  Almighty  God. 


Great  Ruler  of  the  earth  and  skies, 

A   word  of   thine  almighty   breath 
Can  sink  a  world,  or  bid  it  rise: 

Thy  smile  is  life,  thy  frown  is  death. 

To   thee  we  pay  our  grateful  songs, 

Thy  kind  protection  still  implore; 
Oh,  may  our  hearts  and  lives  and  tongues 

Confess  thy  goodness  and  adore. 

— Anonymous. 


138 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  10 

Blessed  are  the   merciful ;   for  they   shall   obtain   mercy.     Matthew   5 :  7. 


C5ot  &toap  JFrom 


(To  a  party  of  gentlemen  who,  as  the  war  was  closing, 
were  very  anxious  to  know  what  he  would  do  with  Jeff. 
Davis,  President  of  the  Confederate  States.) 

There  was  a  boy  in  Springfield  who  saved  up  his  money  and 
bought  a  coon,  which,  after  the  novelty  wore  off,  became  a  great 
nuisance.  He  was  one  day  leading  him  through  the  streets,  and 
had  his  hands  full  to  keep  clear  of  the  little  vixen,  who  had  torn 
his  clothes  half  off  of  him.  At  length  he  sat  down  on  the  curb- 
stone, completely  fagged  out.  A  man  passing  was  stopped  by  the 
lad's  disconsolate  appearance,  and  asked  the  matter.  "Oh,"  was 
the  reply,  "this  coon  is  such  a  trouble  to  me!"  "Why  don't  you 
get  rid  of  him,  then?"  said  the  gentleman.  "Hush!"  said  the  boy; 
"don't  you  see  he  is  gnawing  his  rope  off?  I  am  going  to  let  him 
do  it,  and  then  I  will  go  home  and  tell  the  folks  that  he  got  away 
from  me." 


Sense  is  our  helmet,  wit  is  tut  the  plume. 
The  plume  exposes,  't  is  our  helmet  saves. 
Sense  is   the  di'mond,  weighty,  solid,  sound; 
When  cut  by  -wit,  it  casts  a  brighter  beam; 
Yet,  wit  apart,  it  is  a  diamond  still. 

— Young. 


139 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY   11 

The  Rlory  of  young  men  Is  their  strength.     Proverbs  20  :  20. 


I  (Earnm  S$p  jFtrgt  SDolIar.—  j12o.  t. 


(Related  in  the  presence  of  Hon.  W.  H.  Seward  and  others.) 

Seward,  you  never  heard,  did  you,  how  I  earned  my  first  dollar? 
Well,  I  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  I  belonged,  you  know, 
to  what  they  call,  down  South,  the  "scrubs";  people  who  do  not 
own  slaves  are  nobody  there.  But  we  had  succeeded  in  raising, 
chiefly  by  my  labor,  sufficient  produce,  as  I  thought,  to  justify  me 
in  taking  it  down  the  river  to  sell.  After  much  persuasion,  I  got 
the  consent  of  mother  to  go,  and  constructed  a  little  flatboat,  large 
enough  to  take  a  barrel  or  two  of  things  that  we  had  gathered, 
with  myself  and  little  bundle,  down  to  New  Orleans.  A  steamer 
was  coming  down  the  river.  We  have,  you  know,  no  wharves  on 
the  Western  streams;  and  the  custom  was,  if  passengers  were  at 
any  of  the  landings,  for  them  to  go  out  in  a  boat,  the  steamer 
stopping  and  taking  them  on  board. 


Doicn  the  smooth  stream  of  life  the  stripling  darts, 
Gay  as  the  morn;  bright  glows  the  vernal  sky. 
Hope  swells   the  sails,  and  passion  steers  his  course 
Safe  glides  his  bark  along  the  shore 
Where  virtue  takes  her  stand;  but  if  too  far 
He  launches  forth  beitond  discretion's  mark, 
Sudden  the  tempest  scowls,  the  surges  roar, 
Blot  his  fair  play,  and  plunge  him  in  the  deep. 

— Porteus. 


140 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  12 

Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth  ;  and  let  thy  heart  cheer  thee  In  the 
days  of  thy  youth.     Ecclesiastes  11 :  9. 


31  (Earned  $®v  f  ittft  2DoUac.—  $0.  2, 


(Continued  from   preceding   page.) 

I  was  contemplating  my  new  flatboat,  and  wondering  whether 
I  could  make  it  stronger  or  improve  it  in  any  particular,  when 
two  men  came  down  to  the  shore  in  carriages  with  trunks,  and, 
looking  at  the  different  boats,  singled  out  mine,  and  asked,  "Who 
owns  this?"  I  answered,  somewhat  modestly,  "I  do."  "Will  you," 
said  one  of  them,  "take  us  and  our  trunks  out  to  the  steamer?" 
"Certainly,"  said  I.  I  was  very  glad  to  have  the  chance  of  earning 
something.  I  supposed  that  each  of  them  would  give  me  two  or 
three  bits.  The  trunks  were  put  on  my  fiatboat,  the  passengers 
seated  themselves  on  the  trunks,  and  I  sculled  them  out  to  the 
steamboat.  They  got  on  board,  and  I  lifted  up  their  heavy  trunks 
and  put  them  on  deck.  The  steamer  was  about  to  put  on  steam 
again,  when  I  called  out  that  they  had  forgotten  to  pay  me.  Each 
of  them  took  from  his  pocket  a  silver  half-dollar,  and  threw  it  on 
the  floor  of  my  boat.  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes  as  I  picked 
up  the  money.  Gentlemen,  you  may  think  it  was  a  very  little 
thing,  and  in  these  days  it  seems  to  me  a  trifle;  but  it  was  a  most 
important  incident  in  my  life.  I  could  scarcely  credit  that  I,  a 
poor  boy,  had  earned  a  dollar  in  less  than  a  day  —  that  by  honest 
work  I  had  earned  a  dollar.  The  world  seemed  wider  and  fairer 
before  me.  I  was  a  more  hopeful  and  confident  being  from  that 
time. 


Promise  of  youth  !  fair  as  the  form 

Of  Heaven's  benign  and  (/olden  bow, 
Thy  smiling  arch  begirds  the  storm 

And  sheds  a  light  on  every  woe. 

— James  O.   Brooks. 


141 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  13 

The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us ;  whereof  we  are  glad.     Psalms 
126 :  3. 


C3Iad  at  Wat  ^a0  happened. 

(In  response  to  a  serenade  after  the  important  victories  in 
the  "Wilderness,"  in  May,  1864.) 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  compliment  of  this  call, 
though  I  apprehend  it  is  owing  more  to  the  good  news  received 
to-day  from  the  army  than  to  a  desire  to  see  me.  I  am,  indeed, 
very  grateful  to  the  brave  men  who  have  been  struggling  with 
the  enemy  in  the  field,  to  their  noble  commanders  who  have 
directed  them,  and  especially  to  our  Maker.  Our  commanders 
are  following  up  their  victories  resolutely  and  successfully.  I 
think,  without  knowing  the  particulars  of  the  plans  of  General 
Grant,  that  what  has  been  accomplished  is  of  more  importance 
than  at  first  appears.  I  believe  I  know  (and  am  especially  grate- 
ful to  know)  that  General  Grant  has  not  been  jostled  in  his  pur- 
poses; that  he  has  made  all  his  points;  and  to-day  he  is  on  his 
line,  as  he  purposed  before  he  moved  his  armies.  I  will  volunteer 
to  say  that  I  am  very  glad  at  what  has  happened;  but  there  is  a 
great  deal  still  to  be  done.  While  we  are  grateful  to  all  the  brave 
men  and  officers  for  the  events  of  the  past  few  days,  we  should, 
above  all,  be  very  grateful  to  Almighty  God,  who  gave  us  the 
victory. 


Ah,  never  shall  the  land  forget 
How  gushed  the  life-blood  of  the  brave, 
Gushed  'warm  with  hope  and  courage  yet, 
Upon  the  soil  they  fought  to  save. 

— Bryant. 


142 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  14 

The  churches  of  Christ  salute  you.     Romans  16 : 16. 


(Bob  751(00  Sill  W^t  C&urrl&rs. 

(In  response  to  a  delegation,  headed  by  Bishop  Ames,  from 
the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
May  14,  1864.) 

GENTLEMEN:  In  response  to  your  address,  allow  me  to  attest 
the  accuracy  of  its  historical  statements,  endorse  the  sentiments 
it  expresses,  and  thank  you,  in  the  Nation's  name,  for  the  sure 
promise  it  gives.  Nobly  sustained,  as  the  Government  has  been 
by  all  the  churches,  I  would  utter  nothing  which  might  in  the 
least  appear  invidious  against  any.  Yet,  without  this,  it  may 
fairly  be  said  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  not  less  de- 
voted than  the  best,  is,  by  its  greater  numbers,  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all.  It  is  no  fault  in  others  that  the  Methodist  Church 
sends  more  soldiers  to  the  field,  more  nurses  to  the  hospitals,  and 
more  prayers  to  heaven  than  any.  God  bless  the  Methodist 
Church;  bless  all  the  churches;  and  blessed  be  God,  who,  in  this 
our  great  trial,  giveth  us  the  churches. 


Like  a  mighty  army  moves  the  Church  of  God; 
Brothers,  we  are  treading  where  the  saints  have  trod; 
We  are  not  divided,  all  one  body  we — 
One  in  hope  and  doctrine,  one  in   charity. 

—8.  B.  Gould. 


143 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  15 

Our  help  is  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.    Psalms  124 


SDtbiiu  interposition  and  Jabor. 

(From  his  reply  to  Presbyterian  clergyman,   in  May,   1863.) 

It  has  been  my  happiness  to  receive  testimonies  of  a  similar 
nature  from,  I  believe,  all  denominations  of  Christians.  They  are 
all  loyal,  but  perhaps  not  in  the  same  degree,  or  in  the  same  num- 
bers, but  I  think  they  all  claim  to  be  loyal.  This  to  me  is  most 
gratifying,  because  from  the  beginning  I  saw  that  the  issue  of 
our  great  struggle  depended  upon  the  Divine  interposition  and 
favor.  If  we  had  that,  all  would  be  well.  The  proportions  of  this 
rebellion  were  not  for  a  long  time  understood.  I  saw  that  it  in- 
volved the  greatest  difficulties,  and  would  call  forth  all  the  powers 
of  the  country.  The  end  is  not  yet.  ...  As  a  pilot  I  have  used 
my  best  exertions  to  keep  afloat  our  ship  of  state,  and  shall  be 
glad  to  resign  my  trust  at  the  appointed  time  to  another  pilot, 
more  skillful  and  successful  than  I  may  prove.  In  every  case  and 
at  all  hazards,  the  Government  must  be  perpetuated.  Relying  as 
I  do  upon  the  Almighty  Power,  and  encouraged  as  I  am  by  the 
resolutions  which  you  have  just  read,  with  the  support  which  I 
receive  from  Christian  men,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  use  all  the 
means  at  my  control  to  secure  the  termination  of  this  rebellion, 
and  will  hope  for  success. 


Lead  safely  through,  O  God,  we  pray, 
Lead  us,  O  lead  us  all  the  way. 
We  are  tut  safe  when  safe  with  thee, 
No  other  safety  can  there  be; 
Pitfalls  and  darkness  strew  our  way, 
Lead  us,   dear  Father,  lead,  we  pray. 

— Dr.  I.  L.  Kephart. 


144 


7'7(f!  JTnusr  in    irliirli   Frrxitlcnt  Lincoln   ilicd   in    Wiixlihu/tmi .   D.   C. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  16 

This    man's    religion    is    vain.      James    1 : 26. 


t&e  lEUoilt  llinti  of  Edigicn. 

(To  a  lady  from  Tennessee,  when  he  ordered  the  release  of 
her  husband  as  a  prisoner  of  war.) 

You  say  your  husband  is  a  religious  man;  tell  him,  when  you 
meet  him,  that  I  am  not  much  of  a  judge  of  religion,  but  that  in 
my  opinion  the  religion  which  sets  men  to  rebel  and  fight  against 
their  government,  because,  as  they  think,  that  government  does 
not  sufficiently  help  some  men  to  eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
other  men's  faces,  is  not  the  sort  of  religion  upon  which  people 
can  get  to  heaven. 


In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread, 
Till  thou  return  unto  the  ground;  for  thou 
Out  of  the  ground  wast  taken,  know  thy  'birth, 
For  dust  thou  art,  and  shalt  to  du#t  return. 

—Milton. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  17 

Can  ye  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?     Matthew  16.  3. 


ot  tS 

(An  appeal  to  the  slave  States  to  adopt  gradual  emanci- 
pation, with  compensation,  May  19,  1862.) 

To  the  people  of  these  States  I  now  earnestly  appeal.  I  do  not 
argue;  I  beseech  you  to  make  the  arguments  for  yourselves.  You 
cannot,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs  of  the  times.  I  beg  of 
you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consideration  of  them,  ranging,  if  it  may 
be,  far  above  personal  and  partisan  politics.  This  proposal  makes 
common  cause  for  a  common  object,  casting  no  reproaches  upon 
any.  It  acts  not  the  Pharisee.  The  change  it  contemplates  would 
come  gently  as  the  dews  of  heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  any- 
thing. You  will  not  embrace  it?  So  much  good  has  not  been  done 
by  one  effort  in  all  the  past,  as,  in  the  providence  of  God,  it  is  now 
your  high  privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not  have  to  lament 
that  you  have  neglected  it. 


We  are  living,  ice  are  dwelling 

In  a  grand  and  aicful  time, 
In  an  aye  on  ages   telling — 

To  be  living  is  sublime. 

Oh!  let  all  the  soul  within  you 
For  the  truth's  sake  go  abroad; 

Strike!  let  every  nerve  and  sinew 
Tell  on  ages — tell  for  Qod. 

— A.  C.  Coxe. 


1-16 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  18 

Whoso  keepeth  his  mouth  and  his  tongue  keepeth  his  soul  from  troubles. 
Proverbs  21  :  23. 


3J  Mill  J]2ot  Eu?>  3t 


(To  a  party  who  wished  to  negotiate  for  rewards  for 
promise  of  influence  in  the  Chicago  Convention,  May,  1860. 

No,  gentlemen,  I  have  not  asked  for  the  nomination,  and  I  will 
not  now  buy  it  with  pledges.  If  I  am  nominated  and  elected  I 
shall  not  go  into  the  presidency  as  the  tool  of  this  man  or  that 
man,  or  as  the  property  of  any  factor  or  clique. 

(In  response  to  fi  telearam  from  the  Chicago  Nominating 
Convention,  May  17,  1860,  requesting  him  to  make  certain 
pledges.) 

I  authorize  no  bargains,  and  will  be  bound  by  none. 

(To  those  standing  by  when  he  received  the  dispatch  an- 
nouncing his  nomination,  May  18,  1860.) 

Gentlemen,  you  had  better  come  up  and  shake  my  hand  while 
you  can;  honors  elevate  some  men,  you  know.  Well,  gentlemen, 
there  is  a  little  short  women  at  our  house  who  is  probably  more 
interested  in  this  dispatch  than  I  am;  if  you  will  excuse  me,  I 
will  take  it  up  and  let  her  see  it. 


O  honored  name,  revered  and  undecaying, 
Engraven  on  each  heart,  O  soul  sublime! 

That,  like  a  planet  through  the  heavens  straying, 
Outlives  the  icreck  of  time. 

— Eufjene  J.  Hall. 


147 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  19 

I  have  exalted  one  chosen  out  of  the  people.     Psalms  89 : 19. 


tlje  C5nr  at  l&egpongibilitp. 


(Reply  to  the  committee  formally  announcing  his  first  nom- 
ination for  the  Presidency,  at  his  home  in  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, May  19,  1860.) 

I  tender  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the  Republican  National 
Convention,  and  all  the  people  represented  in  it,  my  profoundest 
thanks  for  the  high  honor  done  me,  which  you  now  formally 
announce.  Deeply,  and  even  painfully  sensible  of  the  great  re- 
sponsibility which  is  inseparable  from  this  high  honor  —  a  respon- 
sibility which  I  could  almost  wish  had  fallen  upon  some  one  of  the 
far  more  eminent  men  and  experienced  statesmen  whose  distin- 
guished names  were  before  the  convention,  I  shall,  by  your  leave, 
consider  more  fully  the  resolutions  of  the  convention,  denom- 
inated the  platform,  and,  without  any  unnecessary  or  unreason- 
able delay,  respond  to  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  in  writing,  not  doubting 
that  the  platform  will  be  found  satisfactory,  and  the  nomination 
gratefully  accepted. 


His  life  was  gentle;  and  the  elements 

So  mixed  in  'him,  that  nature  might  stand  up 

And  say  to  all  the  world,  This  is  a  man. 

— Shakespeare. 


148 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  20 

Do  not  drink  wine  nor  strong  drink,  thou,  nor  thy  sons  with  thee.     Le- 
viticus 10  :  9. 


(To  the  committee,  after  his  response  to  their  notifying 
him  of  his  nomination,  at  his  home   in   Springfield,   Illinois, 
May  19,  1860.) 

Gentlemen,  we  must  pledge  our  mutual  healths  in  the  most 
healthy  beverage  which  God  has  given  to  man.  It  is  the  only 
beverage  I  have  ever  used  or  allowed  in  my  family,  and  I  cannot 
conscientiously  depart  from  it  on  the  present  occasion;  it  is  pure 
Adam's  ale  from  the  spring. 


Oh,  you  need  not  offer  brewer's  liquid  bitterness  to  me, 
I  will  buy  no  unclean  lager  when  a  better  drink  is  free. 

No,  I  do  not  want  your  whiskey  with  its  venom  and  its  sting; 
I  will  fill  my  glass  with  water,  pure,  cold  water  at  the  spring. 
Wine  may  tempt  the  very  thoughtless,  but  I  cannot  see  the  charm 
In  a  glass  so  full  of  evil,  when  cold  water  does  no  harm. 

Pure,  cold  water  just  suits  me, 
I  will  buy  no  baneful  poisons  when  cold  water  is  so  free. 

—W.  G.  Martin. 


149 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR   BOOK 


MAY  21 

He  that  ruleth  over  men  must  be  just,  ruling  in  the  fear  of  God.     II. 
Samuel  23  :  3. 


to  C 

(Letter  of  acceptance  addressed  to  Hon.  George  Ashmun, 
president  of  National  Convention,  dated  May  23,  1860.) 

I  accept  the  nomination  tendered  me  by  the  convention  over 
which  you  presided,  and  of  which  I  am  formally  apprised  in  the 
letter  of  yourself  and  others,  acting  as  a  committee  of  the  conven- 
tion for  that  purpose.  The  declaration  of  principles  and  senti- 
ments, which  accompanies  your  letter,  meets  my  approval;  and  it 
shall  be  my  care  not  to  violate  or  disregard  it  in  any  part.  Im- 
ploring the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and  with  due  regard 
to  the  views  and  feelings  of  all  who  were  represented  in  the  con- 
vention; to  the  rights  of  all  the  States,  and  Territories,  and  the 
people  of  the  Nation;  to  the  inviolability  of  the  Constitution,  and 
to  the  perpetual  union,  harmony,  and  prosperity  of  all,  I  am  most 
happy  to  cooperate  for  the  practical  success  of  the  principles  de- 
clared by  the  convention. 


No  north,  no  south,  no  east,  no  west, 

But  one,  united,,  free! 
The  Palm  and,  Pine  in  Union  blest 

Now  stand  for  liberty. 
From  lakes  to  gulf,  from  sea  to  sea, 

May  union  stronger  grow; 
Thus  teach  the  tcorld  humanity 

And  might  together  go. 

— Anonymous. 


150 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  22 

Fear  ye  not  the  reproach  of  men,  neither  be  ye  afraid  of  their  revilings. 
Isaiah  51 :  7. 


bt  Part?  JLbtfz  and  l&ftucule. 

(Prom  a  speech  delivered  In  Bloomington,  before  the  first 
Republican  State  Convention  In  Illinois,  May  29,  1856.) 

The  party  lash  and  the  fear  of  ridicule  will  overawe  justice  and 
liberty;  for  it  is  a  singular  fact,  but  none  the  less  a  fact,  and  well 
known  by  the  most  common  experience,  that  men  will  do  things 
under  the  terror  of  the  party  lash  that  they  would  not  on  any 
account  or  for  any  consideration  do  otherwise.  Men  who  will 
march  up  to  the  mouth  of  a  loaded  cannon  without  shrinking 
will  run  from  the  terrible  name  of  "Abolitionist,"  even  when  pro- 
nounced by  a  worthless  creature  whom  they,  with  good  reason, 
despise. 


The  brave  man  seeks  not  popular  applause, 
Nor  overpowered  with  arms  deserts  Ms  cause; 
Unsham'd  though  foil'd,  he  does  the  best  he  can, 
Force  is  of  brutes,  but  honor  is  of  man, 

• — Dryden. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  23 

Ye    will    revolt    more    and    more.      Isaiah    1 : 5. 


CBo  Sacfefoarfc. 

(Extract  from  speech  before  the  first  Republican  State 
Convention,  held  at  Bloomington,  Illinois,  May  29,  1856.  Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

Like  the  great  Juggernaut,  the  great  idol,  it  crushes  everything 
that  comes  in  its  way,  and  makes  a — or,  as  I  read  once,  in  a  black- 
letter  law  book,  "a  slave  is  a  human  being  who  is  legally  not  a 
person  but  a  thing."  If  the  safeguards  to  liberty  are  broken 
down,  as  is  now  attempted,  when  they  have  made  things  of  all  the 
free  negroes,  how  long,  think  you,  before  they  will  begin  to  make 
things  out  of  poor  white  men?  Be  not  deceived.  Revolutions  do 
not  go  backward.  The  founder  of  the  Democratic  party  declared 
that  all  men  were  created  equal.  His  successor  in  the  leadership 
has  written  the  word  "white"  before  men,  making  it  read  "all 
white  men  are  created  equal."  Pray,  will  or  may  not  the  Know- 
nothings,  if  they  should  get  in  power,  add  the  v.ord  "Protestant," 
making  it  read  "all  Protestant  white  men"? 


Oh!  think  what  anxious  moments  pass  between 
The  birth  of  plots,  and  their  last  fatal  periods; 
Oh !  't  is  a  dreadful  interval  of  time, 
Fill'd  with  horror,  and  big  with  death. 

— Addison. 


152 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  24 

Let  your  moderation  be  known  to  all  men.     Philippians  4  :  5. 


Pacific 

(Extract  from  speech  before  first  Republican   State   Con- 
vention   held    in    Bloomington,    Illinois,    May   29,   1856.      Con- 
tinued  from   preceding  page.) 

As  it  now  stands,  we  must  appeal  to  the  sober  sense  and  patriot- 
ism of  the  people.  We  shall  make  converts  day  by  day;  we  shall 
grow  strong  by  calmness  and  moderation;  we  shall  grow  strong  by 
the  violence  and  injustice  of  our  adversaries.  And,  unless  truth 
be  a  mockery  and  justice  a  hollow  lie,  we  shall  be  in  the  majority 
after  a  while,  and  then  the  revolution  which  we  shall  accomplish 
will  be  none  the  less  radical  from  being  the  result  of  pacific  meas- 
ures. The  battle  of  freedom  is  to  be  fought  out  on  principle. 
Slavery  is  a  violation  of  the  eternal  right.  We  have  temporized 
with  it  from  the  necessities  of  our  condition;  but  as  sure  as  God 
reigns  and  schoolchildren  read,  that  black,  foul  lie  can  never  be 
consecrated  into  God's  hallowed  truth. 


And  when  our  children  turn  the  page, 

To  ask  what  triumphs  marked  our  age — 

What   ice   achieved   to    challenge  praise, 

Through  the  long  line  of  future  days — 

This  let  them  read,  and  hence  instruction  draw: 

"Here  were  the  many  bless'd, 

Here  found  the  virtues  rest, 
Faith  link'd  with  Love,  and  Liberty  with  Law." 

— Sprague. 


153 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  25 

Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.     Galatians  6 :  7. 


Pote  Against  gour  JJntert  0t  and  Principles. 

(Extract  from  speech  before  first  Republican  State  Conven- 
tion, at  Bloomington,  Illinois,  May  29,  1856.     Continued  from 
preceding  page.) 

Once  let  slavery  get  planted  in  a  locality,  by  ever  so  weak  or 
doubtful  title,  and  ever  so  small  numbers,  and  it  is  like  the  Can- 
ada thistle  or  Bermuda  grass — you  can't  root  it  out.  You  yourself 
may  detest  slavery;  but  your  neighbor  has  five  or  six  slaves,  and 
he  is  an  excellent  neighbor,  or  your  son  has  married  his  daughter, 
and  they  beg  you  to  help  save  their  property,  and  you  vote  against 
your  interest  and  principle  to  accommodate  a  neighbor,  hoping 
that  your  vote  will  be  on  the  losing  side.  And  others  do  the  same; 
and  in  those  ways  slavery  gets  a  sure  foothold.  And  when  that  is 
done  the  whole  mighty  Union — the  force  of  the  Nation — is  com- 
mitted to  its  support. 


Man  should  dare  all  things  that  he  knows  are  right, 
And  fear  to  do  no  act  save  what  is  wrong; 

But,  guided  safely  l)y  his  inward  light, 
And  with  a  permanent  belief,  and  strong, 

In  Him  who  is  our  Father  and  our  Friend, 

He  should  walk  steadfastly  unto  the  end. 

— Phoebe  Gary. 


154 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  20 

The  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man  ;  and  he  saw ;  and,  behold, 
the  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire.      II.  Kings  6  :  17. 


ot  tfie  fllmon. 

(Extract  from  speech  before  the  first  Republican  State 
(Convention  at  Bloomington,  Illinois,  May  29,  1856.  Con- 
tinued, from  preceding  page.) 

The  Union  is  undergoing  a  fearful  strain;  but  it  is  a  stout  old 
ship,  and  has  weathered  many  a  hard  blow,  and  "the  stars  in  their 
courses,"  aye,  an  invisible  power,  greater  than  the  puny  efforts  of 
men,  will  fight  for  us.  But  we  ourselves  must  not  decline  the 
burden  of  responsibility,  nor  take  counsel  of  unworthy  passions. 
Whatever  duty  urges  us  to  do  or  to  omit,  must  be  done  or  omitted; 
and  the  recklessness  with  which  our  adversaries  break  the  laws, 
or  counsel  their  violation,  should  afford  no  example  for  us. 
Therefore,  let  us  revere  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  let  us 
continue  to  obey  the  Constitution  and  the  laws;  let  us  keep  step 
to  the  music  of  the  Union. 


Yes!  rear  thy  guardian  Hero's  form 

On  thy  proud  soil,  thou  Western  World! 
A  watcher  through  each  sign  of  storm, 

O'er  Freedom's  flag  unfurl'd. 
There  as  before  a  shrine  ye  bow, 

Bid  thy  true  sons  their  children  lead; 
The  language  of  that  noble  brow 

For  all  things  good  shall  plead. 

— Mrs.  Hemans. 


156 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  27 

Every  man  that  striveth   for  the  mastery   is  temperate  in   all   things. 
I.  Corinthians  9  :  25. 


Si  SDitf  icult  Kole, 

(Extract  from  letter  written  May  27,  1863,  to  General 
Schofleld,  who  had  been  appointed  to  command  in  Missouri 
In  place  of  General  Curtis,  who  had  been  removed  on  account 
of  local  difficulties.) 

After  months  of  labor  to  reconcile  the  difficulty,  it  seemed  to 
grow  worse  and  worse,  until  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  break  it  up  some- 
how, and  as  I.  could  not  remove  Governor  Gamble,  I  had  to  remove 
General  Curtis.  Now  that  you  are  in  the  position,  I  wish  you  to 
undo  nothing  merely  because  General  Curtis  or  Governor  Gamble 
did  it,  but  to  exercise  your  own  judgment,  and  do  right  for  the 
public  interest.  Let  your  military  measures  be  strong  enough  to 
repel  the  invaders  and  keep  the  peace,  and  not  so  strong  as  to 
unnecessarily  harass  and  persecute  the  people.  It  is  a  difficult 
role,  and  so  much  greater  will  be  the  honor  if  you  perform  it  well. 
If  both  factions,  or  neither,  shall  abuse  you,  you  will  probably  be 
about  right.  Beware  of  being  assailed  by  one  and  praised  by  the 
other. 


Those  are  bravest  icho  shall  rise 

All  earthly  ills  above, 
And  -wear  the  crown  of  high  emprise 

In  meekness  and  in  love; 
The  sun  may  leave  the  mossy  vales, 

Yet  lap  the  hills  in  glorious  light; 
Look  up !  God's  wisdom  never  -fails, 

He  leads  us  through  the  night. 

— Anonymous. 


156 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  28 

His  locks  are  bushy,  and  black  as  a  raven.     Solomon's  Song  5 : 11. 


(To   Colonel   Cannon.) 

By  the  way,  I  can  tell  you  a  good  story  about  my  hair.  When 
I  was  nominated  at  Chicago,  an  enterprising  fellow  thought  that 
a  great  many  people  would  like  to  see  how  Abe  Lincoln  looked, 
and,  as  I  had  not  long  before  sat  for  a  photograph,  the  fellow, 
having  seen  it,  rushed  over  and  bought  the  negative.  He  at  once 
got  out  no  end  of  wood-cuts,  and  so  active  was  their  circulation 
they  were  soon  selling  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Soon  after  they 
reached  Springfield  I  heard  a  boy  crying  them  for  sale  on  the 
streets.  "Here's  your  likeness  of  Abe  Lincoln!"  he  shouted. 
"Buy  one,  price  only  two  shillings!  Will  look  a  good  deal  better 
when  he  gets  his  hair  combed!" 


His  gaunt,  gnarled  hands,  his  unkept   bristling  hair, 

His  garb  uncouth,  his  bearing  ill  at  ease, 
His  lack  of  all  we  prize  as  debonair, 

Of  power  or  will  to  shine,  of  art  to  please; 

My  shalloic  judgment  I  had  learned  to  rue, 

Noting  how  to  occasion's  height  he  rose; 
How  hi-s  quaint  wit  made  home  truth  seem  more  true, 

How  iron-like  his  temper  grew  by  blows. 

— Tom  Taylor. 


157 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  29 

Let  there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee.    Gensls  13  :  8. 


an* 

(In  reply  to  a  friend,  who,  with  many  others  was  sur- 
prised that  the  President  took  no  official  notice  of  General 
Phelps,  who  had  issued  a  proclamation  early  In  the  war, 
freeing  slaves  near  New  Orleans.) 

Well,  I  feel  about  that  a  good  deal  as  a  man  whom  I  will  call 
Jones,  whom  I  once  knew,  did  about  his  wife.  He  was  one  of 
your  meek  men,  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  badly  henpecked. 
At  last,  one  day  his  wife  was  seen  switching  him  out  of  the  house. 
A  day  or  two  afterward  a  friend  met  him  in  the  street,  and  said: 
"Jones,  I  have  always  stood  up  for  you,  as  you  know;  but  I  am 
not  going  to  do  it  any  longer.  Any  man  who  will  stand  quietly 
and  take  a  switching  from  his  wife,  deserves  to  be  horsewhipped." 
Jones  looked  up  with  a  wink,  patting  his  friend  on  the  back. 

"Now,  don't,"  said  he;  "why,  it  didn't  hurt  me  any;  and  you've 
no  idea  what  a  power  of  good  it  did  Sarah  Ann." 


Jerry,   dying   intestate,   his   relatives   claimed, 
While  his  widow  most  vilely  his  mem'ry  defamed. 
"What .'"  cries  she,  "must  I  suffer  because  the  old  knave, 
Without  leaving  a  will,  is  laid  snug  in  the  grave?" 
"That  's  no  wonder,"  says  one,  "for  't  is  very  well  known, 
Since  he  married,  poor  man,  he  'd  no  will  of  his  own." 

— Anonymous. 


ir.8 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  30    (Decoration  Day) 

Go  forth  into  the  field,  then  behold  the  slain  with  the  sword.     Jeremiah 
14 :  18. 


Dabi-  Come  to  SDcdicate. 

(Delivered  at  the  dedication  of  the  National  Cemetery  at 
the  Gettysburg  battlefield,  November  19,  1863.) 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  on 
this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated 
to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now,  we  are 
engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that  nation,  or  any 
nation,  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are 
met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate 
a  portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  here 
gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fit- 
ting and  proper  that  we  should  do  this.  But,  in  a  larger  sense, 
we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate,  we  cannot  hallow  this 
ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here 
have  consecrated  it,  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract. 
The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here, 
but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living, 
rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they 
who  fought  here  have  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be 
here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us;  that  from 
these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for 
which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  we  here 
highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain;  that 
this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and 
that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth. 


Great  leader  true!  throughout  all  time 

The  world  will  hear  thy  voice; 
Because  of  thee  a  holier  clime 
Hid  libert/i  rejoice! 
'T  icas  fitting  you  should  tell  of  those 

Who  wrote  in  blood  their  song, 
And  here  thy  nobler  thought  disclose 

How  nations   shall   be  strong! 

— Mary  M.   Adams. 

159 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


MAY  31 

Glory,  honour,  and  peace,  to  every  man  that  worketh  good.     Romans 
2:  10. 


(Extract  from  a  letter  to  Honorable  J.  H.  Bryant,  May 
30,  1864,  in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  attend  a  meeting  to 
take  measures  to  erect  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Hon- 
orable Owen  Lovejoy.) 

My  personal  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  only  about  ten 
years  ago,  since  when  it  has  been  quite  intimate;  and  every  step 
in  it  has  been  one  of  increasing  respect  and  esteem,  ending  with 
his  life,  in  no  less  affection  on  my  part.  It  can  be  truly  said  of 
him,  that,  while  he  was  personally  ambitious,  he  bravely  endured 
the  obscurity  which  the  unpopularity  of  his  principles  imposed, 
and  never  accepted  official  honors  until  those  honors  were  ready 
to  admit  his  principles  with  him.  Throughout  my  heavy  and  per- 
plexing responsibilities  here  to  the  day  of  his  death,  it  would 
scarcely  wrong  any  other  to  say  he  was  my  most  generous  friend. 
Let  him  have  the  marble  monument,  along  with  the  well-assured 
and  more  endearing  one  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  love  liberty 
unselfishly  for  all  men. 


For  this  is  the  lesson  that  history 

Has  taught  since  the  world  began, 
That  those  whose  memories  never  die, 
That  shine  like  stars  in  our  human  sky 
And  brighter  grow  as  the  years  roll  by, 
Are  men  who  have  lived  for  man. 

— W.  A.  Edgerton. 


160 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE!   1    (Children's   Day) 

The  children  crying  in  the  temple,  and  saying,   Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 
David.     Matthew  21 :  15. 


Sermon  to  Bop0.—  JLittlt 


(Mr.  Lincoln  often  gave  the  following  advice,  which  he 
called  his  "sermon"  to  boys.) 

Don't  drink,  don't  smoke,  don't  chew,  don't  swear,  don't  gamble, 
don't  lie,  don't  cheat.  Love  your  fellow-men  and  love  God.  Love 
truth,  love  virtue,  and  be  happy. 

(In  answer  to  a  memorial  from  the  children  and  young 
people  of  Concord,  Massachusetts,  petitioning  for  the  free- 
dom of  all  slave  children.) 

Tell  those  little  people  I  am  very  glad  their  young  hearts  are 
so  full  of  just  and  generous  sympathy,  and  that  while  I  have  not 
the  power  to  grant  all  they  ask,  I  trust  they  will  remember  that 
God  has;  and  that  it  seems  his  will  to  do  it. 


Ah  !  what  would  the  world  be  to  us 

If  the  children  were  no  more 
We  should  dread  the  desert  behind  us 

Worse  than  the  dark  before. 

— Lonyfcllow. 


tCl 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JU1VE  2 

Be  not  afraid  nor  dismayed  by  reason  of  this  great  multitude ;  for  the 
battle  is  not   yours,   but   God's.     II.   Chronicles  20  :  15. 


j|2ot  Unmindful  of  t&e  fetruggle. 


(Said    in   the   presence  of   Ex-Senator   J.    F.    Wilson   and 
others,  in  June,   1862.) 

I  not  only  believe  that  Providence  is  not  unmindful  of  the 
struggle  in  which  this  nation  is  engaged,  but  I  also  believe  that 
he  will  compel  us  to  do  right  in  order  that  he  may  do  these  things, 
not  so  much  because  we  desire  them,  as  because  they  accord  with 
his  plans  of  dealing  with  this  nation,  in  the  midst  of  which  he 
means  to  establish  justice.  I  think  he  means  that  we  shall  do 
more  than  we  have  yet  done  in  furtherance  of  his  plans,  and  he 
will  yet  open  the  way  for  our  doing  it.  I  have  felt  his  hand  upon 
me  in  great  trials,  and  submitted  to  his  guidance,  and  I  trust  that 
as  he  shall  further  open  the  way  I  will  be  ready  to  walk  therein, 
relying  on  his  help  and  trusting  to  his  goodness  and  wisdom. 


Leave  God  to  order  all  tlty  ways, 

And  hope  in  him,  whate'cr  betide; 
Thou  'It  find  him  in  the  evil  days 

Thy  all  sufficient  strength  and  guide. 

— George  Neumarck. 


102 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  3 

Do  justly  and   love  mercy.     Mlcah   6 :  8. 


Parallel  Ca0r. 

(To  Attorney-General  Bates,  who  requested,  as  a  personal 
favor,  the  parole  of  the  son  of  an  old  friend  in  Virginia,  who 
had  been  captured.) 

Bates,  I  have  an  almost  parallel  case.  The  son  of  an  old  friend 
of  mine  in  Illinois  ran  off  and  entered  the  rebel  army.  The  young 
fool  has  been  captured,  and  is  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  his  old 
broken-hearted  father  has  asked  me  to  send  him  home,  promising, 
of  course,  to  keep  him  there.  I  have  not  seen  my  way  clear  to  do 
it;  but  if  you  and  I  unite  our  influence  with  this  administration, 
I  believe  we  can  manage  it  together  and  make  two  loyal  fathers 
happy.  Let  us  make  them  our  prisoners. 


'T  is  mercy!  mercy! 

The  mark  of  Heav'n  impress' 'd  on  humankind; 
Mercy  that  glads  the  world,  deals  joy  around; 
Mercy  that  smooths  the  dreadful  brow  of  power, 
And  makes  dominion  light;  mercy  that  saves, 
Binds  up   the   broken  heart,  and  heals  despair. 

— Rowe. 


163 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  4 

It  came  to  pass,  that  they  escaped   all   safe  to   land.     Acts  27  :  44 


'H  (Efrt 

(In  reply,  at  the  White  House,  to  some  gentlemen  from 
the  West,  who  were  excited  and  troubled  about  the  commis- 
sions or  omissions  of  the  Administration.) 

Gentlemen,  suppose  all  the  property  you  were  worth  was  in 
gold,  and  you  had  put  it  in  the  hands  of  Blondin  to  carry  across 
the  Niagara  River  on  a  rope,  would  you  shake  the  cable,  or  keep 
shouting  out  to  him,  "Blondin,  stand  up  a  little  straighter — Blon- 
din, stoop  a  little  more — go  a  little  faster — lean  a  little  more  to 
the  north — lean  a  little  more  to  the  south?"  No!  you  would  hold 
your  breath  as  well  as  your  tongue,  and  keep  your  hands  off  until 
he  \vas  safe  over.  The  Government  is  carrying  an  immense 
v, eight.  Untold  treasures  are  in  their  hands.  They  are  doing  the 
very  best  they  can.  Don't  badger  them.  Keep  silence,  and  we  '11 
get  you  safe  across. 


From  storms  of  rage  and  dangerous  rocks  of  pride, 
Let  thy  strong  hand  this  little  vessel  guide. 
It  was  thy  hand  that  made  it:  through  the  tide 
Impetuous  of  this   life  let  thy  command 
Direct  my  course  and  bring  me  safe  to  land. 

— Prior. 


iC4 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  5 

Good  tidings  of  your  faith  and  charity.     I.  Thessalonians  3  :  6. 


(In  response  to  the  chairman  of  a  delegation  of  the  Chris- 
tian Commission,  the  members  having  rendered  aid  and  re- 
freshments to  wounded  soldiers  of  the  terrible  series  of 
battles  in  the  Wilderness,  in  1864.) 

I  desire  also  to  add  to  what  I  have  said,  that  there  is  one  asso- 
ciation whose  objects  and  motives  I  have  never  heard  in  any 
degree  impugned  or  questioned;  and  that  is  the  Christian  commis- 
sion. And  in  "these  days  of  villainy,"  as  Shakespeare  pays,  that 
is  a  record,  gentlemen,  of  which  you  may  justly  be  proud! 

(Later,  in  a  conversational  tone.) 

T  believe,  however,  it  is  old  "Jack  Falstaff"  who  talks  about 
"villainy,"  though  of  course  Shakespeare  is  responsible. 


Oh,  may   our  sympathizing  breasts 

That  generous  pleasure  knoic, 
Kindly  to  share  in  others'  joy 

And  iceep   for  others'   woe. 

When  poor  and  helpless  sons  of  grief 

In  deep  distress  are  laid, 
Soft  lie  our  hearts  their  pains  to  feel, 

And  swift  our  hands  to  aid. 

— Doddridge. 


165 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  6 

Because  thou  didst  rely  on  the  Lord,  he  delivered  them  into  thine  hand. 
II.  Chronicles  16  :  8. 


TO  ole  lEUIiancr  in  (Bob. 


(To  the  synod  of  the  old-school   Presbyterians   of   Balti- 
more, who  waited  on  him  in  a  body.) 

I  saw  upon  taking  my  position  here,  I  was  going  to  have  an 
administration,  if  administration  at  all,  of  extraordinary  diffi- 
culty. It  was  without  exception  a  time  of  the  greatest  difficulty 
this  country  ever  saw.  I  was  early  brought  to  a  lively  reflection 
that  nothing  in  my  power,  or  others,  to  rely  upon  would  succeed 
without  direct  assistance  from  the  Almighty.  I  have  often  wished 
that  I  was  a  more  devout  man  than  I  am.  Nevertheless,  amid  the 
greatest  difficulties  of  my  administration,  when  I  could  not  see 
any  other  resort,  I  would  place  my  whole  reliance  in  God,  know- 
ing that  he  would  decide  for  the  right. 


Just  as  God  leads,  I  onward  go, 
Oft  amid  thorns  and  briars  keen; 

God  does  not  yet  his  guidance  show, 

But  in  the  end  it  shall  be  seen 

How,  by  a  loving  Father's  will, 

Faithful  and  true,  he  leads  me  still, 

My  trembling  footsteps  guiding. 

— Lampertins. 


166 


JUNE  7 

A  man  beholding  his  natural  face  in  a  glass.    James  1 :  23. 


Si  feinffular  ^Occurrence, 


(Related  to  Mr.  F.  B.  Carpenter  and  Major  John  Hay  on 
the  evening  of  his  second  nomination,  June  8,  1864.) 

A  very  singular  occurrence  took  place  the  day  I  was  nominated 
at  Chicago,  four  years  ago,  of  which  I  am  reminded  to-night.  In 
the  afternoon  of  the  day,  returning  home  from  down  town,  I  went 
upstairs  to  Mrs.  Lincoln's  sitting-room.  Feeling  somewhat  tired, 
I  lay  down  upon  a  couch  in  the  room  directly  opposite  a  bureau 
upon  which  was  a  looking-glass.  As  I  reclined,  my  eyes  fell  upon 
the  glass,  and  I  saw  distinctly  two  images  of  myself,  exactly  alike, 
except  that  one  was  a  little  paler  than  the  other.  I  arose,  and 
lay  down  again,  with  the  same  result.  It  made  me  quite  uncom- 
fortable for  a  few  moments,  but  some  friends  coming  in,  the  mat- 
ter passed  out  of  my  mind.  The  next  day,  while  walking  in  the 
street,  I  was  suddenly  reminded  of  the  circumstance,  and  the  dis- 
agreeable sensation  produced  by  it  returned.  I  had  never  seen 
anything  of  the  kind  before,  and  I  did  not  know  what  to  make 
of  it.  I  determined  to  go  home  and  place  myself  in  the  same 
position,  and  if  the  same  effect  was  produced,  I  would  make  up 
my  mind  that  it  was  the  result  of  some  principle  of  refraction  or 
optics  which  I  did  not  understand,  and  dismiss  it.  I  tried  the 
experiment  with  a  like  result;  and,  as  I  said  to  myself,  accounting 
for  it  on  some  principle  unknown  to  me,  it  ceased  to  trouble  me. 
But  some  time  ago  I  tried  to  produce  the  same  effect  here,  by 
arranging  a  glass  and  a  couch  in  the  same  position,  without  suc- 
cess. 


A  mirror  has  been  well  defined 
An  emblem  of  a  thoughtful  mind, 
For,  look  upon  it  when  you  will, 
You   find   it   is   reflecting  still. 

— Anonymous. 

167 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  8 

What    therefore    God    hath    joined    together,    let    no    man    put    asunder. 
Matthew   19  :  6. 


Joint  j^arneg  of  Eibcttp  and  flflnion. 

(Part  of  the  response  to  the  committee,  June  9,  informing 
him  of  his  second  nomination  for  the  Presidency  at  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  June  8,  1864.) 

I  know  no  reason  to  doubt  that  I  shall  accept  the  nomination 
tendered,  and  yet  perhaps  I  should  not  declare  definitely  before 
reading  and  considering  what  is  called  the  platform.  I  will  say 
now,  however,  that  I  approve  the  declaration  of  so  amending  the 
Constitution  as  to  prohibit  slavery  throughout  the  nation.  When 
the  people  in  revolt,  with  the  hundred  days'  explicit  notice  that 
they  could  within  these  days  resume  their  allegiance  without  the 
overthrow  of  their  institution,  and  that  they  could  not  resume  it. 
afterward,  elected  to  stand  out,  such  an  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution as  is  now  proposed  became  a  fitting  and  necessary  condi- 
tion to  the  final  success  of  the  Union  cause.  Such  alone  can  meet 
and  cover  cavils.  I  now  perceive  its  importance  and  embrace  it. 
In  the  joint  names  of  Liberty  and  Union,  let  us  labor  to  give  legal 
form  and  practical  effort. 


Sprinkled  icj,th  starry   light, 
Spread  its  fair  emblems  from  mountain  to  shore, 

While  through  the  sounding  sky 

Loud  rings  the  nation's  cry, 
"Union  and  Liberty!  one  evermore!" 

— Anonymous. 


16S 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  9 

Then  thou  shalt  make  thy  way  prosperous,  and  then  shalt  thou  have 
good   success.     Joshua,   1 :  8. 


t|an  Baltimore  Contentions. 

(In  response  to  the  Ohio  delegation  in  the  Baltimore  Nom- 
inating Convention,  June  9,  1864.) 

GENTLEMEN:  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  this  compli- 
ment. I  have  just  been  saying,  and  as  I  have  just  said  it,  I  will 
repeat  it:  The  hardest  of  all  speeches  which  I  have  to  answer  is 
a  serenade.  I  never  know  what  to  say  on  such  occasions.  I  sup- 
pose that  you  have  done  me  this  kindness  in  connection  with  the 
action  of  the  Baltimore  Convention  which  has  recently  taken 
place,  and  with  which,  of  course,  I  am  very  well  satisfied.  What 
we  want  still  more  than  Baltimore  Conventions  or  Presidential 
elections  is  success  under  General  Grant.  I  propose  that  you  con- 
stantly bear  in  mind  that  the  support  you  owe  to  the  brave  officers 
and  soldiers  in  the  field  is  of  the  very  first  importance,  and  we 
should  therefore  bend  all  our  energies  to  that  point.  Now,  with- 
out detaining  you  any  longer,  I  propose  that  you  help  me  to 
close  up  what  I  am  now  saying  with  three  rousing  cheers  for 
General  Grant  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  his  command. 


Croirn  ye  the  brave!  croicn  ye  the  travel 

As  through  your  streets  they  rule, 
And  the  sunbeams  dance  on   the  polished  arms 

Of  the  warriors,  side  by  side; 
Shower  on  them  your  sireetest  flowers, 

Let  the  -air  ring  with  their  praise. 

— Mrs.  Hemans. 


169 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  1O 

The  Lord   render   to  every  man  his  righteousness  and   his  faithfulness. 
I.    Samuel    26:23. 


dntittly 


(In  response  to  a  delegation  of  the  National  Union  League, 
in  Bast  Room  of  White  House,  June  9,   1864. 

I  am  not  insensible  at  all  to  the  personal  compliment  there  is  in 
this,  yet  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  believe  that  any  but  a  small 
portion  of  it  is  to  be  appropriated  as  a  personal  compliment  to 
me.  The  convention  and  the  nation,  I  am  assured,  are  alike  ani- 
mated by  a  higher  view  of  the  interests  of  the  country,  for  the 
present  and  the  great  future,  and  the  part  I  am  entitled  to  appro- 
priate as  a  compliment  is  only  that  part  which  I  may  lay  hold  of 
as  being  the  opinion  of  the  convention  and  the  league,  that  I  am 
not  entirely  unworthy  to  be  entrusted  with  the  place  I  have  occu- 
pied for  the  last  three  years.  I  have  not  permitted  myself,  gentle- 
men, to  conclude  that  I  am  the  best  man  in  the  country;  but  I  am 
reminded  in  this  connection  of  a  story  of  an  old  Dutch  farmer, 
who  remarked  to  a  companion  once  that  it  was  not  best  to  swap 
horses  when  crossing  a  stream. 


Hi*  words  are  bonds,  his  oaths  are  oracles  ; 
His  love  sincere,  his  thoughts  immaculate; 
His  tears,  pure  messengers  sent  from  his  heart ; 
His  heart  as  far  from  fraud  as  heaven  from  earth. 

— Shakespeare. 


170 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  11 

lie  that  stealcth  a  man,  and  sellcth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand, 
he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.     Exodus  21 :  16. 


flfllotge  t&an  tfie  9po0t  SDeprabeto 


(In  response  to  a  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  with  a 
petition  to  pardon  one  who  had  been  convicted  for  being  en- 
gaged In  the  slave  trade.  He  had  been  sentenced  to  five 
years'  imprisonment  and  fined  $1.000.  He  had  served  his 
time,  but  was.  still  held  for  the  fine.  He  acknowledged  his 
guilt,  and  was  very  penitent.) 

My  friend,  that  is  a  very  touching  appeal  to  our  feelings.  Yon 
know  my  weakness  is  to  be,  if  possible,  too  easily  moved  by 
appeals  for  mercy,  and  if  this  man  were  guilty  of  the  foulest 
murder  that  the  arm  of  man  could  perpetrate  I  might  forgive 
him  on  such  an  appeal;  but  the  man  who  could  go  to  Africa,  and 
rob  her  of  her  children,  and  sell  them  into  interminable  bondage, 
with  no  other  motive  than  that  which  is  furnished  by  dollars  and 
cents,  is  so  much  worse  than  the  most  depraved  murderer,  that  he 
can  never  receive  pardon  at  my  hands.  No!  he  may  rot  in  jail 
before  he  shall  have  liberty  by  any  act  of  mine! 


What  wish  can  prosper,  or  what  prayer 
For  merchants  rich  in  cargoes   of   despair, 
Who  drive  a  loathsome  traffic,  yauye  and  span. 
And  'buy  the  muscles  and  the  bones  of  a  man? 
The  tender  ties  of  father,  husband,  friend, 
All  bonds  of  nature  in  that  moment  end, 
And  each  endures,  while  yet  he  draws  his  breath, 
A  stroke  as  fatal  as  the  scythe  of  death. 

— Cowper. 


171 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  12 

When  the  scorner  is  punished,  the  simple  Is  made  wise.     Proverbs  21 :  11. 


t&e  Agitator  and  &abe  t&t  Bop. 

(Extract  from  a  lengthy  letter,  written  June  12,  1863,  in 
roiply  to  New  York  Democrats,  who,  among  other  things,  ask 
for  the  release  of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  who  has  been  arrested 
for  disloyalty.) 

Long  experience  has  shown  that  armies  cannot  be  maintained 
unless  desertion  shall  be  punished  by  the  severe  penalty  of  death. 
The  case  requires,  and  the  law  and  the  Constitution  sanction  this 
punishment.  Must  I  shoot  a  simple-minded  soldier  boy  who  de- 
serts, while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair  of  a  wily  agitator  who 
induces  him  to  desert?  This  is  none  the  less  injurious  when 
effected  by  getting  a  father,  or  brother,  or  friend  into  a  public 
meeting,  and  there  work  upon  his  feelings  until  he  is  persuaded 
to  write  the  soldier  boy  that  he  is  fighting  in  a  bad  cause,  for  a 
wicked  administration  of  a  contemptible  government,  too  weak 
to  punish  him  if  he  shall  desert.  I  think  that,  in  such  a  case,  to 
silence  the  agitator  and  save  the  boy  is  not  only  constitutional, 
but  withal  a  great  mercy. 


That  talking  linare 

Consumes  Ms  time  in  speeches  to  the  rabble, 
And  sows  sedition  up  and  down  the  city, 
Picking  up  discontented  fools,  belying 
The  senators  and  government:  destroying 
Faith  among  honest  men,  and  praising  knaves. 

— Otway. 


172 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  13 

Deborah,  a  prophetess,  the  wife  of  Lapidoth,  she  judged  Israel  at  that 
time,  .  .  .  and  the  children  of  Israel  came  up  to  her  for  judgment.  Judges 
4:4,  5. 


T&V  jRo  9$ean0  dttlubiny  jfnnaleg. 

(Prom  his  letter  in  Sangamon  Journal,  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, Jnne  13,  1836,  announcing  himself  a  candidate  for  the 
legislature.) 

The  candidates  are  called  upon,  I  see,  to  show  their  hands.  Here 
is  mine.  I  go  for  all  sharing  the  privileges  of  government  who 
assist  in  bearing  its  burdens.  Consequently,  I  go  for  admitting 
all  the  whites  to  the  rights  of  suffrage,  by  no  means  excluding 
females.  .  .  .  While  acting  as  their  representative,  I  shall  be 
governed  by  their  will  on  all  subjects  upon  which  I  have  the 
means  of  knowing  what  their  will  is;  and  upon  all  others,  I  shall 
do  what  my  judgment  tells  me  will  best  advance  their  interests. 


And  well  the  poet,  at  her  shrine, 

Matt  bend  and  worship  while  he  woos; 
To   him   she   is   a   thing   divine, 
The  inspiration  of  his   line, 

His  lov'd  one,  and  his  muse. 
If  to  his  song  the  echo  rings 

Of  fame — 't  is  woman's  voice  he  hears ; 
If  ever  from  his  lyre's  proud  strings 
Flow  sounds  like  rush  of  angel  wings, — 
'T  is  that  she  listens  while  he  sings, 

With  blended  smiles  and  tears. 

— HallecJc. 


173 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  14  (Flajj  Day) 

In  the  name  of  our  God  we  will  set  up  our  banners.     Psalms  20 :  5. 


Magnificent  flag  of  t&e  County. 

(Extract  from  speech  before  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, at  Harrisburg,  February  22,  1861,  after  he  had  spoken 
at  Independence  Hall  and  raised  the  flag.) 

Besides  this,  my  friends  there  had  provided  a  magnificent  flag 
of  the  country.  They  had  arranged  it  so  that  I  was  given  the 
honor  of  raising  it  to  the  head  of  the  staff.  And  when  it  went  up 
I  was  pleased  that  it  went  to  its  place  by  the  strength  of  my  own 
feeble  arm,  when,  according  to  the  arrangement,  the  cord  was 
pulled,  and  it  floated  gloriously  to  the  wind,  without  an  accident, 
in  the  light,  glowing  sunshine  of  the  morning,  I  could  not  help 
hoping  that  there  was,  in  the  entire  success  of  that  beautiful  cere- 
mony, at  least  something  of  an  omen  of  what  is  to  come.  In  the 
whole  of  that  proceeding  I  was  a  very  humble  instrument.  I  had 
not  provided  the  flag;  I  had  not  made  the  arrangement  for  elevat- 
ing it  to  its  place;  I  had  applied  but  a  very  small  portion  of  my 
feeble  strength  in  raising  it.  In  the  whole  transaction  I  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  people  who  had  arranged  it,  and  if  I  can  have  the 
same  generous  cooperation  of  the  people  of  the  nation,  I  think  the 
flag  of  our  country  may  still  keep  flaunting  gloriously. 


Flarj  of  the  free  heart's  hope  and  home, 

By  angel  hands  to  valor  given, 
Thy  stars  have  lit  the  welkin  dome, 

And  all  thy  hues  were  born  in  heaven  t 
Forever  •float  that  standard  sheet 

Where  breathes  the  foe  but  falls  before  us, 
With  Freedom's   soil  beneath  our  feet, 

And  Freedom's  banner  streaming  o'er  us! 

— Charles  Rodman  Drake. 


174 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  15 

The  mighty  are  gathered  against  me.    .    .    .   They  run  and  prepare  them- 
selves without  my  fault.     Psalms  59  :  3,  4. 


|2o  jfault  of 

(Extract  from  speech  before  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania, 
February  22,  1861.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

It  is  not  with  any  pleasure  that  I  contemplate  the  possibility 
that  a  necessity  may  arise  in  this  country  for  the  use  of  the  mili- 
tary arm.  While  I  am  exceedingly  gratified  to  see  the  manifesta- 
tions upon  your  streets  of  your  military  force  here,  and  exceed- 
ingly gratified  at  your  promises  here  to  use  that  force  upon  a 
proper  emergency — while  I  make  these  acknowledgements,  I  desire 
to  repeat,  in  order  to  preclude  any  possible  misconstruction,  that 
I  do  most  sincerely  hope  that  we  shall  have  no  use  for  them;  that 
it  will  never  become  their  duty  to  shed  blood,  and  most  especially 
never  to  shed  fraternal  blood.  I  promise  that,  so  far  as  I  may 
have  wisdom  to  direct,  if  so  painful  a  result  shall  in  any  wise  be 
brought  about,  it  shall  be  through  no  fault  of  mine. 


O  turn  thy  edged  award  another  if  ay : 

Strike  those  that  hurt,  and  hurt  not  those  that  help ! 

One  drop  of  blood  drawn  from  thy  country's  bosom, 

Khould  grieve  thee  more  than  streams  of  foreign  gore; 

Return  thee,  therefore,  with  a  flood  of  tears, 

And  wash  away  thy  country's  stained  spots. 

— Shakespeare. 


175 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  1C 

If  a  house  be  divided  against  itself,  that  house  cannot  stand.     Mark  3 :  25. 


2Dibi&e&  3£ou0r  Cannot 


(Extract  from  speech  delivered  at  Springfield,  Illinois, 
June  16,  1858,  at  the  close  of  Republican  Convention,  at 
which  time  he  was  nominated  for  the  United  States  Senate.) 

If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tend- 
ing, we  could  better  judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it.  We  are 
now  far  into  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was  initiated  with  the 
avowed  object  and  confident  promise  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery 
agitation.  Under  the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has 
not  only  not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augmented.  In  my 
opinion,  it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached 
and  passed.  "A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  I 
believe  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave 
and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved  —  I  do 
not  expect  the  house  to  fall  —  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be 
divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other.  Either  the 
opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place 
it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward 
till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as 
new,  North  as  well  as  South.  Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter 
condition?  Let  any  one  who  doubts,  carefully  contemplate  that 
now  almost  complete  legal  combination  —  piece  of  machinery,  so 
to  speak  —  compounded  of  the  Nebraska  doctrine,  and  the  Dred 
Scott  decision. 


"United,  ice  stand;  divided,  ice  fall!" 

It  made  and  preserves  us  a  nation. 
The  union  of  lakes,  the  union  of  lands, 

The  union  of  States  none  can  sever — 
The  union  of  hearts,  the  union  of  hands, 

And  the  flag  of  our  Union  forever. 

— George  P.  Morns. 


176 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  17 

Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation  :  but  sin  Is  a  reproach  to  any  people. 
Proverbs   14  :  34. 


Ration  Cannot  ilibf  on  3Jnju0tice. 

(Said  in  defense  of  his  "Divided  House"  speech  of  June 
16,  1858,  some  of  his  friends  having  severely  criticised  it.) 

Friends,  1  have  thought  about  this  matter  a  great  deal,  have 
weighed  the  question  from  all  corners,  and  am  thoroughly  con- 
vinced the  time  has  come  when  it  should  be  uttered;  and  if  it 
must  be  that  I  must  go  down  because  of  this  speech,  then  let  me 
go  down  linked  to  truth — die  in  the  advocacy  of  what  is  right 
and  just.  This  nation  cannot  live  on  injustice.  "A  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand,"  I  say  again  and  again. 

(To  some  friends  at  Bloomington,  111.) 

You  may  think  the  speech  was  a  mistake;  but  I  have  never 
believed  it  was,  and  you  will  see  the  day  when  you  will  consider 
it  the  wisest  thing  I  ever  did. 


He  w os  not  of  that  strain  of  counsellors 
That,  like  a  turf  of  rushes  in  a  brook, 
Bends  every  way  the  current  turns  itself, 
Yielding  to  every  puff  of  appetite 
That  comes  from  majesty,  but  with  true  zeal 
He  faithfully  declared  all. 

— Brewer. 


177 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  18 

Thy  men  shall  fall  by  the  sword,  and  thy  mighty  in  the  war.     Isaiah 
3:25. 


flfllar  te 

(Remarks  at   a  Philadelphia  Pair  for  the   benefit   of  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  June  16,  1864.) 

War,  at  the  best,  is  terrible,  and  this  war  of  ours,  in  its  magni- 
tude and  in  its  duration,  is  one  of  the  most  terrible.  It  has 
deranged  business,  totally  in  many  localities,  and  partially  in  all 
localities.  It  has  destroyed  property  and  ruined  homes;  it  has 
produced  a  national  debt  and  taxation  unprecedented,  at  least  in 
this  country;  it  has  carried  mourning  to  almost  every  home,  until 
it  can,  at  most,  be  said,  "The  heavens  are  hung  in  black." 
Yet  the  war  continues,  and  several  relieving  coincidents  have 
accompanied  it  from  the  very  beginning  which  have  not  been 
known,  as  I  understand  or  have  any  knowledge  of,  in  any  former 
wars  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  Sanitary  Commission,  with 
all  its  benevolent  labors;  the  Christian  Commission,  with  all  its 
Christian  and  benevolent  labors;  and  the  various  places,  arrange- 
ments, so  to  speak,  and  institutions,  have  contributed  to  the  com- 
fort and  relief  of  the  soldiers. 


If  you  cannot  in  the  conflict 

Prove   yourself   a   soldier   true, 
If  where  the  fire  and  smoke  are  thickest 

There  's  no  work  for  you  to  do, 
When  the  battle-field  is  silent 

You  can  go  with  careful  tread, 
You  can  bear  away  the  wounded, 

You  can-  cover  up  the  dead. 

— Mrs.  Ellen  H.   Gates. 


178 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  19 

The  Lord  watch  between  me  and  thee,  when  we  are  absent  one  from 
another.     Genesis  31 :  49. 


Kememftmto  ftp  t&r  Eobefc  at 


(Remarks  at   a  Philadelphia  Fair  for  the  benefit   of  the 
Sanitary    Commission,    June    16,    1864.      Continued    from    pre- 
ceding page.) 

The  motive  and  object  that  lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  these  are 
most  worthy;  for,  say  what  you  will,  after  all,  the  most  is  due  to 
the  soldier,  who  takes  his  life  in  his  hands  and  goes  to  fight  the 
battles  of  his  country.  In  what  is  contributed  to  his  comfort  when 
he  passes  to  and  fro,  and  in  what  is  contributed  to  him  when  he  is 
sick  and  wounded,  in  whatever  shape  it  comes,  whether  from  the 
fair  and  tender  hand  of  woman,  or  from  any  other  source,  it  is 
much,  very  much.  But  I  think  that  there  is  still  that  which  is  of 
much  value  to  him  in  the  continued  reminders  he  sees  in  the 
newspapers,  that  while  he  is  absent  he  is  yet  remembered  by  the 
loved  ones  at  home. 


The  wife  icho  girds  her  Husband's  sword, 

'Mid   little  ones  who  weep  or  wonder, 
And  bravely  speaks  the  cheering  word, 

What  though  her  heart  be  rent  asunder, 
Doomed  nightly  in  her  dreams  to  hear 

The  bolts  of  death  around  him  rattle, 
Hath  shed  as  sacred  blood  as  e'er 

Was  poured  upon  the  field  of  battle. 

— Thomas  Buchanan  Read. 


179 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  20 

lie  maketh  wars  to  cease.     Psalms  46  :  9. 


Ofllfjen  id  tf)i  mat  to  €n&? 

(Remarks  at  a  Philadelphia  Fair  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Sanitary  Commission,  June  16,  1864.  Concluded  from  pre- 
ceding page.) 

It  is  a  pertinent  question,  often  asked  in  the  mind  privately, 
and  from  one  to  the  other,  When  is  the  war  to  end?  Surely  I 
feel  as  deep  an  interest  in  this  question  as  any  other  can,  but  I 
do  not  wish  to  name  a  day,  a  month,  or  a  year  when  it  is  to  end. 
I  do  not  wish  to  run  any  risk  of  seeing  the  time  come,  without 
our  being  ready  for  the  end,  for  fear  of  disappointment  because 
the  time  had  come  and  not  the  end.  We  accepted  this  war  for  an 
object,  a  worthy  object,  and  the  war  will  end  when  that  object  is 
attained.  Under  God,  I  hope  it  never  will  end  until  that  time. 


Many  are  the  hearts  that  are  weary  to-night, 

Wishing  for  the  icar  to  cease; 
Many  are  the  hearts  looking  -for  the  right, 

To  see  the  dawn  of  peace: 
Tenting  to-night,  tenting  to-night, 

Tenting  on   the  old  camp-ground. 

— Anonymous. 


ISO 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  21 

Study  to  show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needath  not 
to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth.     II.  Timothy  2 : 15. 


3  mill  be  l&ea&p  for 


(Said  to  a  Mr.  Emerson  during  the  celebrated  trial  of  the 
McCormick  Patent  Case  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  1855.  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  E.  M.  Stanton  here  met  for  the  first  time,  each 
being  engaged  for  the  defense.) 

I  am  going  home  to  study  law.  I  occupy  a  good  position  there, 
and  I  think  that  I  can  get  along  with  the  way  things  are  done 
there  now.  But  these  college-trained  men,  who  have  devoted  their 
whole  lives  to  study,  are  coming  West,  don't  you  see?  And  they 
study  their  cases  as  we  never  do.  They  have  got  as  far  as  Cincin- 
nati now.  They  will  soon  be  in  Illinois.  I  am  going  home  to 
study  law!  I  am  as  good  as  any  of  them,  and  when  they  get  out 
to  Illinois  I  will  be  ready  for  them. 


Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way, 
The  first  four  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day; 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last. 

— Bishop  Berkeley. 


181 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  22 

A  merry  heart  doeth  good  like  a  medicine.     Proverbs  17  :  22. 


Petrolr  um  $. 

(To  a  company  of  distinguished  persons  who  called  at  the 
White  House  in  1864.) 

Have  you  seen  the  "Nasby  Papers"?  There  is  a  chap  out  in 
Ohio  who  has  been  writing  a  series  of  letters  in  the  newspapers 
over  the  signature  of  Petroleum  V.  Nasby.  Some  one  sent  me  a 
pamphlet  collection  of  them  the  other  day.  I  am  going  to  write 
to  "Petroleum"  to  come  down  here,  and  I  intend  to  tell  him  if  he 
will  communicate  his  talent  to  me,  I  will  "swap"  places  with  him. 


The  merry  heart,  the  merry  heart, 
Of  Heaven's  gifts  I  hold  thee  best; 
And  they  irho  feel  its  pleasant  throb, 

TJiough  dark  their  lot,  are  truly  blest. 
From  youth  to  age  it  changes  not, 

In  joy  and  sorrow  still  the  same; 
When  skies  are  dark,  and  tempests  scowl, 

It  shines  a  steady  beacon  flame. 

— Anonymous. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  23 

Be  not  carried  about  with  divers  and  strange  doctrines.    Hebrews  13 :  9. 


Squatter  &obmigntp, 

(From   a  speech   delivered   at   Chicago,   Illinois,   July   10, 
1858.     In  reply  to  Senator  Stephen  A.  Douglas.) 

Popular  sovereignty!  everlasting  popular  sovereignty!  Let  us 
for  a  moment  inquire  into  this  vast  matter  of  popular  sovereignty. 
What  is  popular  sovereignty?  We  recollect  at  an  early  period  in 
the  history  of  this  struggle,  there  was  another  name  for  the  same 
thing — squatter  sovereignty.  It  was  not  exactly  popular  sover- 
eignty, but  squatter  sovereignty.  What  do  those  terms  mean? 
What  do  those  terms  mean  when  used  now?  A  vast  credit  is 
taken  by  our  friend,  the  Judge,  in  regard  to  his  support  of  it, 
when  he  declares  the  last  years  of  his  life  have  been,  and  all  the 
future  years  of  his  life  shall  be  devoted  to  this  matter  of  popular 
sovereignty.  What  is  it?  Why,  it  is  sovereignty  of  the  people! 
What  was  squatter  sovereignty!  I  suppose  if  it  had  any  signifi- 
cance at  all  it  was  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves, 
to  be  sovereign  in  their  own  affairs  while  they  were  squatted 
down  in  a  country  not  their  own,  while  they  had  squatted  on  a 
territory  that  did  not  belong  to  them,  in  the  sense  that  a  State 
belongs  to  the  people  who  inhabit  it — when  it  belonged  to  the 
nation — such  right  to  govern  themselves  was  called  "squatter 
sovereignty." 


This  sov'reign  passion,  scornful  of  restraint, 
Even  from  the  birth  affects  supreme  command, 
Swells  in  the  breast  with  resistless  force, 
O'erbears  each  gentler  motion  of  the  mind. 

— Dr.   Johnson. 


183 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  24 

According  to  the  sentence  of  the  law  which  they  shall  teach  thee,  and 
according  to  the  Judgment  which  they  shall  tell  thee,  thou  shalt  do. 
Deuteronomy  17  :  11. 


Judicial 


(From  a  speech  delivered  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  June  26, 
1857.) 

Judicial  decisions  have  two  uses — first  to  absolutely  determine 
the  case  decided;  and,  secondly,  to  indicate  to  the  public  how 
similar  cases  will  be  decided  when  they  arise.  For  the  latter  use, 
they  are  called  "precedents"  and  "authorities."  .  .  .  We  think  the 
Dred  Scott  decision  is  erroneous.  We  know  the  court  that  made 
it  has  often  overruled  its  own  decisions,  and  we  shall  do  what  we 

can  to  have  it  overrule  this.     We  offer  no  resistance  to  it 

Judicial  decisions  are  of  greater  or  less  authority  as  precedents, 
according  to  circumstances.  That  this  should  be  so,  accords  both 
with  common  sense  and  the  customary  understanding  of  the 
legal  profession. 


Let  none  direct  thee  ichat  to  do  or  say, 

Till  thee  thy  judgment  of  the  matter  sic  ay ; 

Let  not  the  pleasing  many  thee  delight, 

First  judge  if  those  whom  thou  dost  please,  judge  right. 

— Denham. 


JS4 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  25 

Remember  them  that  are  in  bonds.     Hebrews  13  :  3. 


Eccfc  of  a  ^unbred 

(From    a    speech    at    Springfield,    Illinois,    June    26,    1857. 
Continued   from    preceding   page.) 

In  those  days  our  Declaration  of  Independence  was  held  sacred 
by  all,  and  thought  to  include  all;  but  now,  to  aid  in  making  the 
bondage  of  the  negro  universal  and  eternal,  it  is  assailed,  sneered 
at,  construed,  hawked  at,  and  torn,  till  if  its  framers  could  rise 
from  their  graves,  they  could  not  at  all  recognize  it.  All  the 
powers  of  earth  seem  rapidly  combining  against  him.  Mammon 
is  after  him;  ambition  follows,  philosophy  follows,  and  the  the- 
ology of  the  day  is  fast  joining  the  cry.  They  have  him  in  his 
prison  house;  they  have  searched  his  person  and  left  no  prying 
instrument  with  him.  One  after  another  they  have  closed  the 
heavy  iron  doors  upon  him;  and  now  they  have  him,  as  it  were, 
bolted  in  with  a  lock  of  a  hundred  keys,  which  can  never  be  un- 
locked without  the  concurrence  of  every  key;  the  keys  in  the 
hands  of  a  hundred  different  men,  and  they  scattered  to  a  hundred 
different  and  distant  places;  and  they  stand  musing  as  to  what 
invention,  in  all  the  dominions  of  mind  and  matter,  can  be  pro- 
duced to  make  the  impossibility  of  his  escape  more  complete  than 
it  is. 


O  Liberty!  can  man  resign  fhee, 
Once  having  felt  thy  generous  flame? 

Can  dungeons,  bolts,  or  bars  confine  thee, 
Or  whip   thy  noble  spirit  tame? 

— Rouget  de  Lislie. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  26 

To   every    man    according    to   his    several    ability.      Matthew    25 : 15. 


equal  in  all  I\c0prctd. 

(From  a  speech  delivered  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  June  26, 
1857.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

I  think  the  authors  of  that  notable  instrument  intended  to  in- 
clude oH  men,  hut  they  did  not  intend  to  declare  all  men  equal  in 
all  respects.  They  did  not  mean  to  say  all  were  equal  in  color, 
size,  intellect,  moral  developments,  or  social  capacity.  They  de- 
fined with  tolerable  distinctness  in  what  respects  they  did  con- 
sider all  men  created  equal — equal  with  "certain  inalienable 
rights,  among  which  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness." This  they  said  and  this  they  meant.  They  did  not  mean 
to  assert  the  obvious  untruth  that  all  were  then  actually  enjoying 
that  equality,  nor  yet  that  they  were  about  to  confer  it  imme- 
diately upon  them.  In  fact,  they  had  no  power  to  confer  such  a 
boon.  They  meant  simply  to  declare  the  right,  so  that  the  enforce- 
ment of  it  might  follow  as  fast  as  circumstances  should  permit. 


Examples  I  could  cite  you  more  ; 
But  'be  content  with  these  four; 
For  when  one's  proofs  are  aptly  chosen, 
Four  are  as  valid  as  four  dozen. 

— Prior. 


186 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  27 

A   man  shall   be  commended   according  to  his  wisdom.      Proverbs   12 :  8. 


(From  his  letter  of  June  27,  1864,  addressed  to  Honorable 
William  Dennison,  Chairman  of  Baltimore  Convention,  ac- 
cepting the  second  nomination  for  the  Presidency.) 

Your  letter  of  the  14th  instant,  formally  notifying  me  that  I 
have  been  nominated  by  the  convention  you  represent  for  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States,  for  four  years  from  the  4th  of 
March  next,  has  been  received.  The  nomination  is  gratefully 
accepted,  as  the  resolutions  of  the  convention — called  the  plat- 
form— are  heartily  approved.  ...  I  am  especially  gratified  that 
the  soldier  and  the  seaman  were  not  forgotten  by  the  convention, 
as  they  forever  must  and  will  be  remembered  by  the  grateful 
country  for  whose  salvation  they  devote  their  lives. 


The  brave  do  never  shun  the  light; 
Just  are  their  thoughts,  and  open  are  their  tempers; 
Truly  icithout  disguise  they  love  or  hate; 
Still  are  they  found  in  the  fair  face  of  day, 
\nd  heaven  and  men  are  judges  of  their  actions. 

— Rowe. 


187 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  28 

God    .    .    .    hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men.     Acts  17 :  26. 


to  fee  a  kittle  Colot*BHn&. 

(In  response  to  General  Grant's  sugsc^stion.  while  at  City 
Point,  Virginia,  in  June,  1864,  that  the  President  should 
visit  the  colored  troops  who  had  so  recently  performed  acts 
of  bravery  in  front  of  Petersburg.) 

Oh,  yes,  I  want  to  take  a  look  at  those  boys.  I  read  with  the 
greatest,  delight  the  accounts  given  in  Mr.  Dana's  dispatch  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  how  gallantly  they  behaved.  He  said  they  took 
six  out  of  the  sixteen  guns  captured  that  day.  I  was  opposed  on 
nearly  every  side  when  I  first  favored  the  raising  of  colored  regi- 
ments; but  they  have  proved  their  efficiency,  and  I  am  glad  they 
have  kept  pace  vith  the  white  troops  in  the  recent  assaults.  When 
we  wanted  every  able-bodied  man  who  could  be  spared  to  go  to 
the  front,  and  my  opposers  kept  objecting  to  the  negroes,  I  used 
to  tell  them  that  at  such  times  it  was  just  as  well  to  be  a  little 
color-blind. 


We  used  to  think  the  negro  didn't  count  for  very  much — 
Light-flngered  in  the  melon  patch  and  chicken  yard,  and  such; 
Much  mixed  in  point  of  morals  and  absurd  in  point  of  dress, 
The  butt  of  droll  cartoonists  and  the  target  of  the  press; 
But  we  've  got  to  reconstruct  our  views  on  color,  more  or  less. 

— B.  M.  Channing. 


1SS 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  29 

And  they  were  more  than  forty  which  had  made  this  conspiracy.     Acts 
23  :  13. 


(Extract  from  a  lengthy  letter  written  June  13,  1863,  to 
Honorable  Erastus  Corning  and  others,  who  had  written  him 
a  letter,  enclosing  resolutions  passed  at  Albany,  New  York, 
criticising  the  President  and  his  administration  in  many 
things,  and  requesting  the  discharge  of  Mr.  Vallandigham, 
who  had  been  arrested  for  disloyalty.) 

One  of  the  resolutions  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  meeting  that 
arbitrary  arrests  will  have  the  effect  to  divide  and  distract  those 
who  should  be  united  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  I  am  spe- 
cifically called  on  to  discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham.  I  regard  this 
as,  at  least,  a  fair  appeal  to  me  on  the  expediency  of  exercising  a 
constitutional  power  which  I  think  exists.  In  response  to  such 
appeal,  I  have  to  say,  it  gave  me  pain  when  I  learned  that  Mr. 
Vallandigham  had  been  arrested — that  is,  I  was  pained  that  there 
should  have  seemed  to  be  a  necessity  for  arresting  him — and  that 
it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  discharge  him  as  soon  as  I  can, 
by  any  means,  believe  the  public  safety  will  not  suffer  by  it.  I 
further  say  that,  as  the  war  progresses,  it  appears  to  me  opin- 
ion and  action  which  were  in  great  confusion  at  first  take  shape 
and  fall  into  more  regular  channels,  so  that  the  necessity  for 
strong  dealing  with  them  gradually  decreases.  I  have  every 
reason  to  desire  that  it  should  cease  altogether. 


The  man  who  rises  on  his  country's  ruin, 
Lives   in    a   crowd   of   foes,    himself   the   chief; 
In  vain  his  power,  in  vain  his  pomp  and  pleasure, 
His  guilty  thoughts,  those  tyrants   of  the  soul, 
Steal  in  unseen,  and  stab   him  in  his  triumph. 

— Martyn. 


189 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUNE  30 

By  wise  counsel  thou   shalt   make  thy  war  :   and  in  multitude  of  coun- 
sellors there  is  safety.      Proverbs  24  :  6. 


of 

(In  reply  to  Mr.  Dixon,  a  Congressman  from  Rhode  Island, 
who  was  appointed  to  represent  the  views  of  a  meeting  of 
Governors  of  Northern  States,  June  28,  1862,  urging  for  a 
more  aggressive  campaign.) 

Dixon,  you  are  a  good  fellow,  and  I  have  always  had  a  good 
opinion  of  you.  It  is  needless  for  me  to  say  that  what  comes  from 
those  who  sent  you  here  is  authoritative.  The  Governors  of  the 
Northern  States  are  the  North.  What  they  decide  must  be  carried 
out.  Still,  in  justice  to  myself,  you  must  remember  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  President  of  the  United  States.  Anything  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  does,  right  or  wrong,  will  be  the 
act  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  will,  by  the  people, 
be  held  responsible  for  the  President's  action.  But  I  have  a  prop- 
osition to  make  to  you.  Go  home  and  think  the  matter  over. 
Come  to  me  to-morrow  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  and  I  will  promise 
to  do  anything  that  you  by  then  have  determined  upon  as  the 
right  and  proper  thing  to  do.  Good-night. 


All  "hail,  great  chieftain!    Long  will  sweetly  cluster 
A  thousand  memories  round  your  sacred  name. 

Nor  time  nor  death  shall  dim  the  spotless  luster 
That  shines  upon  your  fame. 

— Eugene  J.  Hall. 


190 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  1 

And  Asa  had  an  army  of  men  .    .     .    three  hundred  thousand    ...    all 
these   were   mighty    men   of  valour.      II.    Chronicles   14 : 8. 


Call  for  f&bttt  ^undreti  {Efiouganto  Open. 

(In  reply,  July  1,  1862,  to  an  address  by  the  Governors  of 
seventeen  States,  expressing  their  belief  in  the  readiness  of 
the  people  to  respond  to  more  vigorous  measures  to  end  the 
Rebellion.) 

Fully  concurring  in  the  wisdom  of  the  views  expressed  to  me 
in  so  patriotic  a  manner  by  you  in  the  communication  of  the 
28th  day  of  June,  I  have  decided  to  call  into  the  service  an  addi- 
tional force  of  three  hundred  thousand  men.  I  suggest  and  rec- 
ommend that  the  troops  should  he  chiefly  of  infantry.  ...  I 
trust  that  they  may  be  enrolled  without  delay,  so  as  to  bring  this 
unnecessary  and  injurious  civil  war  to  a  speedy  and  satisfactory 
conclusion.  An  order  fixing  the  quotas  of  the  respective  States 
will  be  issued  by  the  War  Department  to-morrow. 


0  Heaven,  he  cried,  my  bleeding  country  save! 
Is  there  no  hand  on  high  to  shield  the  brave f 
Yet,  though  destruction  sweep  those  lovely  plain? 
Rise,  fellow-men!  our  country  yet  remains! 
By  that  dread  name  we  wave  the  sword  on  high, 
And  swear  for  her  to  live!  ivith  her  to  die! 

— Campbell. 


191 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  2 

As  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be.     Deuteronomy  33  :  25. 


Me  fetill  l^abe  &trengt&. 

(In  reply,  July  1,  1862,  to  General  McClellan,  who  called 
for  reinforcements.) 

It  is  impossible  to  reenforce  you  for  your  present  emergency. 
If  we  had  a  million  of  men,  we  could  not  get  them  to  you  in  time. 
We  have  not  the  men  to  send.  If  you  are  not  strong  enough  to 
face  the  enemy,  you  must  find  a  place  of  security,  and  wait,  rest, 
and  repair.  Maintain  your  ground  if  you  can,  but  save  the  army 
at  all  events,  even  if  you  fall  back  to  Fort  Monroe.  We  still  have 
strength  enough  in  the  country,  and  will  bring  it  out. 


Hark!    I  hear  the  tramp  of  thousands 

And  of  armed  men  the  hum — 
Lo !  a  nation's  hosts  have  gathered 
'Round  the  quick-alarming   drum, 
Saying,  "Come, 
Freemen,  come, 

Ere  your  heritage  be  wasted!" 
Saith  the  sound-alarming  drum. 

— F.    B.    Harte. 


192 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  3 

Redeeming  the   time,   because  the   days   are  evil.      Epheslans   5 :  16. 


te 

(To  Governor   Morton,   Indiana,   July  3,   1862.) 

I  would  not  want  the  half  of  300,000  new  troops  if  I  could  have 
them  now.  If  I  had  50,000  additional  troops  here  now  I  believe 
I  could  substantially  close  the  war  in  two  weeks;  but  time  is 
everything,  and  if  I  get  the  50,000  new  men  in  a  month  I  shall 
have  lost  20,000  old  ones  during  the  same  month,  having  gained 
only  30,000,  with  the  difference  between  the  old  and  new  troops 
still  against  me.  The  quicker  you  can  raise  the  troops,  the  fewer 
you  will  have  to  send,  and  time  is  everything.  Please  act  in  view 
of  this. 


They  left  their  ploughshares  in  the  mold, 

The  flocks  and  herds  without  a  fold; 

The  sickle  in  the  unshorn  grain, 

The  corn  half  garnered  on  the  plain, 

And,  mustered  in  their  simple  dress, 

For  wrongs  to  seek  a  stern  redress; 

To   right  those  wrongs,  come  weal,  come  woe, 

To  perish  or  o'ercome  the  foe. 

— McLellan. 


193 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  4   (Independence  Day) 

Proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants  thereof. 
Leviticus  25  :  10. 


2Drr laration  of  3ntif pcndntre. 

(Extract  from  address  at  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia, 
February    22,    1861.) 

I  have  never  had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not  spring  from 
the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  I 
have  often  pondered  over  the  dangers  which  were  incurred  by  the 
men  who  assembled  here  and  adopted  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. I  have  pondered  over  the  toils  that  were  endured  by 
the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army  who  achieved  that  inde- 
pendence. I  have  often  inquired  of  myself  what  great  principle 
or  idea  it  was  that  kept  this  Confederacy  so  long  together.  It 
was  not  the  mere  matter  of  the  separation  of  the  colonies  from 
the  mother  land,  but  something  in  that  declaration  giving  liberty, 
not  alone  to  the  people  of  this  country,  but  hope  for  the  world  for 
all  future  time.  It  was  that  which  gave  promise  that  in  due  time 
the  weights  would  be  lifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  men,  and 
that  all  should  have  an  equal  chance. 


Our  fathers  now  their  freedom  strive  to  gain; 
Their  independence  boldly  now  proclaim. 
They  pledge  their  fortunes,  sacred  honor,  life, 
And  periled  all   amid   the   deadly  strife. 

— John  W.  Barber. 


194 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  5 

When  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast  shut  thy 
door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret ;  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in 
secret  shall  reward  thee  openly.  Matthew  6 :  6. 


for  Pictorp  at 

(Said  to  General  Sickles,  July  5,  1863,  who  was  wounded 
at  Gettysburg.  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  him.  Gettysburg  battle, 
July  1,  2,  and  3,  1863.) 

I  will  tell  you  how  it  was.  In  the  pinch  of  your  campaign 
up  there,  when  everybody  seemed  panic-stricken,  and  nobody 
could  tell  what  was  going  to  happen,  I  went  into  my  room  one 
day  and  locked  the  door,  and  got  down  on  my  knees  before  Al- 
mighty God  and  prayed  to  him  mightily  for  victory  at  Gettys- 
burg. I  told  him  that  this  was  his  war,  and  our  cause  his  cause, 
but  that  we  could  not  stand  another  Fredericksburg,  or  Chancel- 
lorsville;  and  then  and  there  made  a  solemn  vow  to  Almighty 
God  that  if  he  would  stand  by  our  boys  at  Gettysburg  I  would 
stand  by  him.  And  he  did,  and  I  will.  And  after  that  (I  don't 
know  how  it  was  and  I  can't  explain  it)  soon  a  sweet  comfort 
crept  into  my  soul  that  things  would  go  all  right  at  Gettysburg. 


Sweet  hour  of  prayer!  sweet  hour  of  prayer  I 
That  calls  me  from  a  world  of  care 
And  bids  me  at  my  Father's  throne 
Make  all  my  wants  and  wishes  known. 

— Walford. 


195 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  6 

The  leaders  of  this  people  cause  them  to  err.     Isaiah  9 : 16. 


in  15tm$  Slptelfti. 

(Said  to  a  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Journal  in  July,  1864.) 

I  have  faith,  in  the  people.  They  will  not  consent  to  disunion. 
The  danger  is  in  their  being  misled.  Let  them  know  the  truth, 
and  the  country  is  safe.  ...  I  can't  work  less,  but  it  isn't  that — 
work  never  troubles  me.  Things  look  badly,  and  I  can't  avoid 
anxiety.  Personally,  I  care  nothing  about  a  reelection;  but  if 
our  divisions  defeat  us,  I  fear  for  the  country. 


You  fell !     A  nation's  hopes  seemed  blighted, 
While  millions  shuddered  at  your  dreadful  fall; 

But  Ood  is  good!    His  wondrous  hand  has  righted 
And  reunited  all. 

Tou  fell  I  tut  in  your  death  you  were  victorious ; 

To  molder  in  the  tomb  your  form  has  gone, 
While  through  the  world  your  great  soul  grows  more  glorious 

As  years  go  gliding  on. 

— Eugene  J.  Hall. 


196 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  7 

They  received  the  word  with  all   readiness  of  mind,  and  searched  the 
scriptures  dally.     Acts  17  :  11. 


C5t*at  Book  of  C5od. 

(From  a  speech  to  a  committee  of  colored  people  who  pre- 
sented him  with  an  elegant  copy  of  the  Bible  from  the  col- 
ored people  of  Baltimore,  July  4,  1864.) 

I  can  only  say  now,  as  I  have  often  said  before,  it  has  always 
been  a  sentiment  with  me  that  all  mankind  should  be  free.  So 
far  as  I  have  been  able,  so  far  as  came  within  my  sphere,  I  have 
always  acted  as  I  believed  was  right  and  just,  and  done  all  I 
could  for  the  good  of  mankind.  I  have,  in  letters  and  documents 
sent  forth  from  this  office,  expressed  myself  better  than  I  can 
now.  In  regard  to  the  great  Book,  I  have  only  to  say  it  is  the  best 
gift  which  God  has  ever  given  man.  All  the  good  from  the  Savior 
of  the  world  is  communicated  to  us  through  this  Book.  But  for 
that  Book  we  could  not  know  right  from  wrong.  All  those  things 
desirable  to  man  are  contained  in  it.  I  return  you  my  sincere 
thanks  for  this  very  elegant  copy  of  the  great  Book  of  God  which 
you  present. 


Holy  Bible,  book  divine, 

Precious   treasure,  thou  art  mine; 
Mine  to  tell  me  whence  I  came; 

Mine  to  teach  me  what  I  am. 

— John  Burton. 


197 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  8 

Now  the  end  of  the  commandment  is  charity  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and 
of  a  good  conscience.     I.  Timothy  1 :  5. 


Prejudice  &gafn0t  t&e  &outfitrn 

(Extract  from  a  speech   at  Peoria,   Illinois,   1854.) 

Before  proceeding,  let  me  say,  I  think  I  have  no  prejudice 
against  the  Southern  people.  They  are  just  what  we  would  be  in 
their  situation.  If  slavery  did  not  now  exist  among  them,  they 
would  not  introduce  it.  If  it  did  now  exist  amongst  us,  we  should 
not  instantly  give  it  up.  This  I  believe  of  the  masses  North  and 
South.  Doubtless  there  are  individuals  on  both  sides  who  would 
not  hold  slaves  under  any  circumstances;  and  others  who  would 
gladly  introduce  slavery  anew,  if  it  were  out  of  existence.  We 
know  that  some  Southern  men  do  free  their  slaves,  go  North,  and 
become  tip-top  Abolitionists;  while  some  Northern  ones  go  South, 
and  become  most  cruel  slave-masters.  When  Southern  people  tell 
us  they  are  no  more  responsible  for  the  origin  of  slavery  than 
we,  I  acknowledge  the  fact.  When  it  is  said  that  the  institution 
exists,  and  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  rid  of  it,  in  any  satis- 
factory way,  I  can  understand  and  appreciate  the  saying.  I 
surely  will  not  blame  them  for  not  doing  what  I  should  not  know 
how  to  do  myself. 


In  Mississippi's  Hall  of  Fame 

Together  they  look  down — 
The  statesman  of  immortal  mold, 

The  soldier  of  renown. 
The  South  delights  to  honor  him 

Who  set  the  bondman  free, 
And  Lincoln's  pictured  face  to-day 

Hangs  side  by  side  with  Lee. 

— Minna  Irving. 


198 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  9 

Stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.     Exodus  14  : 13. 


(Btadual  emancipation. 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  in   1854.     Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

If  all  earthly  power  were  given  me,  I  should  not  know  what  to 
do,  as  to  the  existing  institution.  My  first  impulse  would  be  to 
free  all  the  slaves,  send  them  to  Liberia — to  their  own  native 
land.  But  a  moment's  reflection  would  convince  me  that  what- 
ever of  high  hope  (as  I  think  there  is)  there  may  be  in  this,  in 
the  long  run,  its  sudden  execution  is  impossible.  If  they  were  all 
landed  there  in  a  day,  they  would  all  perish  in  the  next  ten  days; 
and  there  are  not  shipping  and  surplus  money  enough  in  the 
world  to  carry  them  there  in  many  times  ten  days.  What  then? 
Free  them  all  and  keep  them  among  us  as  underlings?  Is  it  quite 
certain  that  this  betters  their  condition?  I  think  I  would  not 
hold  one  in  slavery  at  any  rate;  yet  the  point  is  not  clear  enough 
to  me  to  denounce  people  upon.  What  next?  Free  them,  and 
make  them  politically  and  socially  our  equals?  My  own  feelings 
will  not  admit  of  this;  and  if  mine  would,  we  well  know  that 
those  of  the  great  mass  of  white  people  will  not.  ...  A  universal 
feeling,  whether  well  or  ill  founded,  cannot  be  safely  disregarded. 
We  cannot,  then,  make  them  equals.  It  does  seem  to  me  that 
systems  of  gradual  emancipation  might  be  adopted;  but  for  their 
tardiness  in  this,  I  will  not  undertake  to  judge  our  brethren  of 
the  South. 


The  broken  heart  which  kindness  never  heals, 
The   home-sick   passion   which   the   negro   feels 
When,  toiling,  fainting  in  the  land  of  canes, 
His  spirit  wanders   to  his  native  plains. 

— Montgomery. 


199 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  10 

Hear  diligently   my   speech,   and   my   declaration.      Job   13 : 17. 


a  ^retofction  jDnty. 


(Extract  from  speech  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  July  10,  1858, 
in  reply  to-  Judge  Douglas,  and  in  defense  of  his  "Divided- 
House"  speech.  See  June  16.) 

He  says  that  I  am  in  favor  of  making  war  by  the  North  upon 
the  South  for  the  extinction  of  slavery;  that  I  am  also  in  favor  of 
inviting  (as  he  expresses  it)  the  South  to  a  war  upon  the  North, 
for  the  purpose  of  nationalizing  slavery.  Now,  it  is  singular 
enough,  if  you  will  carefully  read  that  passage  over,  that  I  did 
not  say  that  I  was  in  favor  of  anything  in  it.  I  only  said  what  I 
expected  would  take  place.  I  made  a  prediction  only  —  it  may 
have  been  a  foolish  one  perhaps.  I  did  not  even  say  that  I  desired 
that  slavery  would  be  put  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  I  do 
so  now,  however,  so  there  need  be  no  longer  any  difficulty  about 
that.  .  .  .  Gentlemen,  Judge  Douglas  informed  you  that  this 
speech  of  mine  was  probably  carefully  prepared.  I  admit  that  it 
was.  I  am  not  a  master  of  language;  I  have  not  a  fine  education; 
I  am  not  capable  of  entering  into  a  disquisition  upon  dialectics, 
as  I  believe  you  call  it;  but  I  do  not  believe  the  language  I  em- 
ployed bears  any  such  construction  as  Judge  Douglas  puts  upon 
it.  But  I  don't  care  about  a  quibble  in  regard  to  words.  I  know 
what  I  meant,  and  I  will  not  leave  this  crowd  in  doubt,  if  I  can 
explain  to  them  what  I  really  meant  in  the  use  of  that  para- 
graph. 


You  have  a  natural  wise  sincerity, 

A  simple  truthfulness; 

And,  though  yourself  not  unacquamt  with  care, 

Have  in  your  heart  wide  room. 

— Lowell. 


200 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  11 

How  hast  thou  helped  him  that  is  without  power?  how  savest  thou  the 
arm  that  hath  no  strength  ?    Job  26  :  2. 


of 

(Address  to  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  the  Border 
States,  July  12,  1862.) 

I  intend  no  reproach  or  complaint  when  I  assure  you  that,  in 
my  opinion,  if  you  all  had  voted  for  the  resolution  in  the  gradual 
emancipation  message  of  last  March,  the  war  would  now  be  sub- 
stantially ended.  And  the  plan  therein  proposed  is  yet  one  of  the 
most  potent  and  swift  means  of  ending  it.  Let  the  States  which 
are  in  rebellion  see  definitely  and  clearly  that  in  no  event  will  the 
States  you  represent  ever  join  their  proposed  confederacy,  and 
they  cannot  much  longer  maintain  the  contest.  But  you  cannot 
divest  them  of  their  hope  to  ultimately  have  you  with  them,  as 
long  as  you  show  a  determination  to  perpetuate  the  institution 
within  your  States ;  beat  them  at  election  as  you  have  overwhelm- 
ingly done,  and,  nothing  daunted,  they  still  claim  you  as  their 
own.  You  and  I  know  what  the  lever  of  their  power  is.  Break 
that  lever  before  their  faces,  and  they  can  shake  you  no  more 
forever. 


/  "break  your  bonds  and  masterships, 

And  I  unchain  the  slave; 
Free  be  his  heart  and  hand  henceforth, 

As  wind  and  wandering  wave. 

To-day  unbind  the  captive, 

80  only  are  ye  unbound; 
Lift  up  a  people  from  the  dust, 

Trump  of  the  rescue  sound. 

— Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 


201 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  12 

For  Zion's  sake  will  I  not  hold  my  peace,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake  I 
will  not  rest.     Isaiah  62  :  1. 


for  t&*  feafee  of  t&e  M&ole  Country 

(Extract  from  address  to  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
the  Border  States  July  12,  1862.  Continued  from  preceding 
page.) 

Most  of  you  have  treated  me  with  kindness  and  consideration, 
and  I  trust  you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch  what  is 
exclusively  your  own,  when  for  the  sake  of  the  whole  country  I 
ask,  Can  you,  for  your  States,  do  better  than  to  take  the  course  I 
urge?  Discarding  punctilio  and  maxims  adapted  to  more  man- 
ageable times,  and  looking  only  to  the  unprecedentedly  stern 
facts  of  our  case,  can  you  do  better  in  any  possible  event?  You 
prefer  that  the  constitutional  relation  of  the  States  to  the  Nation 
shall  be  practically  restored  without  disturbance  of  the  institu- 
tion; and  if  this  were  done,  my  whole  duty,  in  this  respect,  under 
the  constitution  and  my  oath  of  office,  would  be  performed.  But 
it  is  not  done,  and  we  are  trying  to  accomplish  it  by  war. 


Come  East,  and  West,  and  North, 

By  races,  as  snowftakes, 
And  carry  my  purpose  forth 

Which  neither  halts  nor  shakes. 

My  way  fulfilled  shall  "be, 

For,  in  daylight  or  in  dark, 
My  thunderbolt  has  eyes  to  see 

His  way  home  to  the  mark. 

— Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 


202 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  13 

Every  purpose  is  established  by  counsel :   and  with  good  advice  make 
war.     Proverbs  20  : 18. 


of  tfie  OZHar. 


(Extract  from  address  to  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
the  Border  States,  July  12,  1862.  Continued  from  preceding 
page.) 

The  incidents  of  the  war  cannot  be  avoided.  If  the  war  con- 
tinues long,  as  it  must  if  the  object  be  not  sooner  attained,  the 
institution  in  your  States  will  be  extinguished  by  mere  friction 
and  abrasion  —  by  the  mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be  gone, 
and  you  will  have  nothing  valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value 
is  gone  already.  How  much  better  for  you  and  your  people  to  take 
the  step  which  at  once  shortens  the  war  and  secures  substantial 
compensation  for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost  in  any  other 
event.  How  much  better  to  thus  save  the  money  which  else  we 
sink  forever  in  the  war.  How  much  better  to  do  it  while  we  can, 
lest  the  war  ere  long  render  us  pecuniarily  unable  to  do  it.  How 
much  better  for  you,  as  seller,  and  the  Nation,  as  buyer,  to  sell 
out  and  buy  out  that  without  which  the  war  never  could  have 
been,  than  to  sink  both  the  thing  to  be  sold  and  the  price  of  it  in 
cutting  one  another's  throats.  I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation 
at  once,  but  of  a  decision  at  once  to  emacipate  gradually. 


'T  is  not  victory  to  win  the  field, 
Unless  we  make  our  enemies  to  yield 
More  to  our  justice  than  our  force;  and  so 
As  well  instruct  as  overcome  our  foe. 

— Oomersall. 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


JULY  14 

And  now,  I  pray  you,  consider  from  this  day.     Haggai  2 :  15. 


Belobeti  ^tetotp  anto 


(Extract  from  address  to  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
the  Border  States,  July  12,  1862.  Concluded  from  preceding 
page.) 

Before  leaving  the  capital,  consider  and  discuss  it  among  your- 
selves. You  are  patriots  and  statesmen,  and  as  such  I  pray  you 
consider  this  proposition,  and  at  least  commend  it  to  the  consid- 
eration of  your  States  and  people.  As  you  would  perpetuate  popu- 
lar government,  for  the  best  people  in  the  world,  I  beseech  you 
that  you  do  in  no  wise  omit  this.  Our  common  country  is  in  great 
peril,  demanding  the  loftiest  views  and  boldest  action  to  bring  a 
speedy  relief.  Once  relieved,  its  form  of  government  is  saved  to 
the  world;  its  beloved  history  and  cherished  memories  are  vindi- 
cated, and  its  happy  future  fully  assured  and  rendered  incon- 
ceivably grand.  To  you,  more  than  to  any  others,  the  privilege  is 
given  to  assure  that  happiness,  and  to  thus  link  your  own  names 
therewith  forever. 


Statesman,  yet  friend  to  truth!  of  soul  sincere, 

In  action  faithful,  and  in  honor  clear ; 

Who  broke  no  promise,  served  no  private  end, 

Who  gained  no   title,  and  who  lost  no  friend; 

Ennobled   by   himself,   by   all   approved, 

And  praised,  unenvied,   by   the  muse  he  loved. 

— Pope. 


204 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  15 

The  Lord  will  give  strength  unto  his  people ;  the  Lord  will  bless  his 
people  with  peace.     Psalms  29  : 11. 


flflmon  and  jFratetnal 

(Extract  from  Thanksgiving  Proclamation  issued  July  15,  1863.) 

Be  it  known,  that  I  do  set  apart  Thursday,  the  sixth  day  of 
August  next,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  for  national  thanksgiving, 
praise,  and  prayer;  and  I  invite  the  people  of  the  United  States 
to  assemble  on  that  occasion  in  their  customary  places  of  worship, 
and  in  the  form  approved  by  their  own  conscience  render  the 
homage  due  to  the  Divine  Majesty  for  the  wonderful  things  he  has 
done  in  the  Nation's  behalf,  and  invoke  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  subdue  the  anger  which  has  produced  and  so  long  sus- 
tained a  needless  and  cruel  rebellion,  to  change  the  hearts  of  the 
insurgents,  to  guide  the  councils  of  the  Government  with  wisdom 
adequate  to  so  great  a  national  emergency,  and  to  visit  with 
tender  care  and  consolation,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
our  land,  all  those  who,  through  the  vicissitudes  of  marches,  voy- 
ages, battles,  and  sieges  have  been  brought  to  suffer  in  mind, 
body,  or  estate,  and  finally  to  lead  the  whole  Nation  through 
paths  of  repentance  and  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  back  to 
the  perfect  enjoyment  of  union  and  fraternal  peace. 


God  'bless  our  native  land! 
Firm  may  she  ever  stand 

Through  storm  and  night; 
While  the  wild  tempests  rave, 
Ruler  of  wind  and  wave, 
Do   thou  our   country   save 

By  thy  great  might. 

— Dwight. 


205 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  16 

The  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.     Romans  8 :  21. 


(Bloriougf  Consummation. 

(Extract  from  an  address  delivered  at  Springfield,  Illinois, 
July    16,    1852.) 

The  suggestion  of  the  possible  ultimate  redemption  of  the  Afri- 
can race  and  African  continent  was  made  twenty-five  years  ago. 
Every  succeeding  year  has  added  strength  to  the  hope  of  its 
realization.  May  it  indeed  be  realized.  Pharaoh's  country  was 
cursed  with  plagues,  and  his  hosts  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea  for 
striving  to  retain  a  captive  people  who  had  already  served  them 
more  than  four  hundred  years.  May  like  disaster  never  befall  us! 
If,  as  the  friends  of  colonization  hope,  the  present  and  coming 
generations  of  our  countrymen  shall,  by  any  means,  suceed  in 
freeing  our  land  from  the  dangerous  presence  of  slavery,  and  at 
the  same  time  restoring  a  captive  people  to  their  long-lost  father- 
land, with  bright  prospects  for  the  future,  and  this,  too,  so  grad- 
ually that  neither  races  nor  individuals  shall  have  suffered  by  the 
change,  it  will  indeed  be  a  glorious  consummation. 


In  the  long  vista  of  the  years  to  roll, 

Let  me  not  see  my  country's  honor  fade; 

Oh !  let  me  see  our  land  retain  its  soul ! 

Her  pride  in  Freedom,  and  not  Freedom's  shade. 

— Keats. 


206 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  17 

With  him  is  an  arm  of  flesh ;  but  with  us  is  the  Lord  our  God  to  help 
us,  and  to  fight  our  battles.     II.  Chronicles  32  :  8. 


Battle  flflpon  ^principle. 


(From  a  speech  delivered  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  July  17, 
1858.  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Douglas  were  candidates  for  the 
United  States  Senate.) 

There  is  still  another  disadvantage  under  which  we  labor,  and 
to  which  I  will  ask  your  attention.  It  arises  out  of  the  relative 
positions  of  two  persons  who  stand  before  the  State  as  can- 
didates for  the  Senate.  Senator  Douglas  is  of  world-wide  renown. 
All  the  anxious  politicians  of  his  party,  or  who  have  been  of  his 
party  for  years  past,  have  been  looking  upon  him  as  certainly,  at 
no  distant  day,  to  be  the  President  of  the  United  States.  They 
have  seen  in  his  round,  jolly,  fruitful  face,  post-offices,  land- 
offices,  marshalships,  and  cabinet  appointments,  chargeships  and 
foreign  missions,  bursting  and  sprouting  out  in  wonderful  exuber- 
ance, ready  to  be  laid  hold  of  by  their  greedy  hands.  And  as  they 
have  been  gazing  upon  this  attractive  picture  so  long,  they  can- 
not, in  the  little  distraction  that  has  taken  place  in  the  party, 
bring  themselves  to  give  up  the  charming  hope  ;  but  with  greedier 
anxiety  they  rush  about  him,  sustain  him,  and  give  him  marches, 
triumphal  entries,  and  receptions  beyond  what  even  in  the  days 
of  his  highest  prosperity  they  could  have  brought  about  in  his 
favor.  On  the  contrary,  nobody  has  ever  expected  me  to  be  Pres- 
ident. In  my  poor,  lean,  lank  face  nobody  has  ever  seen  that 
any  cabbages  were  sprouting  out.  These  are  disadvantages,  all 
taken  together,  that  the  Republicans  labor  under.  We  have  to 
fight  this  battle  upon  principle,  and  upon  principle  alone. 


A  happy  lot  be  thine,  and  larger  light 

Await  thee  there;  for  thou  hast  bound  thy  will 

In  cheerful  homage  to  the  rule  of  right 
And  lovest  all,  and  doest  good  for  ill. 

— Bryant. 

207 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  18 

To  the  counsellors  of  peace  is  joy.     Proverbs  12  :  20. 


Conduct  Botfj 


(Safe    conduct    promised    for    rebel    emissaries    to    visit 
Washington.    Issued  July   18,  1864.) 

Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restoration  of  peace,  the 
integrity  of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of  slavery, 
and  which  comes  by  and  with  an  authority  that  can  control  the 
armies  now  at  war  with  the  United  States  will  be  received  and 
considered  by  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  will  be  met  by  liberal  terms  on  substantial  and  collateral 
points;  and  the  bearer  thereof  shall  have  safe  conduct  both  ways. 


O  Peace!  the  fairest  child  of  heaven, 

To  whom  the  sylvian  reign  was  given; 

The  vale,  the  fountain,  and  the  grove, 

With  every  softer  scene  of  love: 

Return,  sweet  peace  1  and  cheer  the  weeping  swain, 

Return  with  ease  and  pleasure  in  thy  train. 

— Thomson. 


208 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  19 

The  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God.     Whosoever  therefore  resisteth 
the  power,  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God.     Romans  13  : 1,  2. 


affair  at  ft.  feumter. 

(Extract  from  first  message  to  Congress,  July  4,  1861.) 

By  the  affair  at  Fort  Sumter,  with  its  surrounding  circum- 
stances, that  point  was  reached.  Then  and  thereby  the  assailants 
of  the  Government  began  the  conflict  of  arms — without  a  gun  in 
sight,  or  in  expectancy,  to  return  their  fire,  save  only  a  few  in  the 
fort  sent  to  that  harbor  years  before  for  their  own  protection, 
and  still  ready  to  give  that  protection  in  whatever  was  lawful. 
In  this  act,  discarding  all  else,  they  have  forced  upon  the  country 
the  distinct  issue,  immediate  dissolution  or  blood,  and  this  issue 
embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  these  United  States.  It  presents 
to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question  whether  a  constitutional 
republic  or  democrarcy,  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  same 
people,  can  or  cannot  maintain  its  territorial  integrity  against  its 
own  domestic  foes.  It  presents  the  question  whether  discontented 
individuals,  too  few  in  numbers  to  control  the  Administration 
according  to  the  organic  law  in  any  case,  can  always,  upon  the 
pretense  made  in  this  case,  or  any  other  pretenses,  or  arbitrarily 
without  any  pretense,  break  up  their  government,  and  thus  prac- 
tically put  an  end  to  free  government  upon  the  earth. 


Strike  till  the  last  armed  foe  expires; 
Strike  for  your  altars  and  your  flres; 
Strike  for  the  green  graves  of  your  sires, 
God,  and  your  native  land. 

— Halleck. 


209 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY    20 

A  spirit  of  judgment  to  him  that  sitteth  in  judgment,  and  for  strength 
to  them  that  turn  the  battle  to  the  gate.     Isaiah  28 :  6. 


ial  tot  t&e  Idlotk  is  ja&unfcant, 


(From  the  first  message  to  Congress,  July  4,  1861.     Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

It  is  now  recommended  that  you  give  the  legal  means  for  mak- 
ing this  contest  a  short  and  decisive  one;  that  you  place  at  the 
control  of  the  Government  for  the  work  at  least  400,000  men  and 
$400,000,000;  that  number  of  men  is  about  one-tenth  of  those  of 
proper  ages  within  the  regions  where  apparently  all  are  willing 
to  engage,  and  the  sum  is  less  than  a  twenty-third  part  of  the 
money  value  owned  by  the  men  who  seem  ready  to  devote  the 
whole.  A  debt  of  $600,000,000  now  is  a  less  sum  per  head  than 
was  the  debt  of  our  Revolution  when  we  came  out  of  that  strug- 
gle, and  the  money  value  in  the  country  bears  even  a  greater  pro- 
portion to  what  it  was  then  than  does  the  population.  Surely 
each  man  has  as  strong  a  motive  now  to  preserve  our  liberties  as 
each  had  to  establish  them.  A  rigid  result  at  this  time  will  be 
worth  more  to  the  world  than  ten  times  the  men  and  ten  times 
the  money.  The  evidence  reaching  us  from  the  country  leaves  no 
doubt  that  the  material  for  the  work  is  abundant,  and  that  it 
needs  only  the  hand  of  legislation  to  give  it  legal  sanction,  and 
the  hand  of  the  Executive  to  give  it  practical  shape  and  efficiency. 


We   're    coming,    Father    Abraham, 

Strong  hearts  and  ready  hands; 
From  river,  lake,  and  mountain 

We  are  mustering  our  bands, 
From  boundless  western  prairie  to 

The  old  Atlantic  shore. 
We  're  coming,  Father  Abraham, 

8ia>  hundred  thousand  more. 

— Gibbons. 


210 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  21 

I  esteem  all  thy  precepts  concerning  all  things  to  be  right ;  and  I  hate 
every  false  way.     Psalms  119  : 128. 


Snuenioug 

(Extract   from  first   message  to   Congress,   July  4,   1861. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

It  might  seem  at  first  thought  to  be  of  little  difference  whether 
the  present  movement  at  the  South  be  called  secession  or  rebel- 
lion. The  movers,  however,  well  understood  the  difference.  At 
the  beginning  they  knew  that  they  could  never  raise  their  treason 
to  any  respectable  magnitude  by  any  name  which  implies  viola- 
tion of  law;  they  knew  their  people  possessed  as  much  of  moral 
sense,  as  much  of  devotion  to  law  and  order,  and  as  much  pride  in 
its  reverence  for  the  history  and  government  of  their  common 
country,  as  any  other  civilized  and  patriotic  people.  They  knew 
they  could  make  no  advancement  directly  in  the  teeth  of  these 
strong  and  noble  sentiments.  Accordingly  they  commenced  by  an 
insidious  debauching  of  the  public  mind;  they  invented  an  in- 
genious sophism,  which,  if  conceded,  was  followed  by  perfectly 
logical  steps  through  all  the  incidents  of  the  complete  destruc- 
tion of  the  Union.  The  sophism  itself  is,  That  any  State  of  the 
Union  may,  consistently  with  the  Nation's  Constitution,  and 
therefore  lawfully  and  peacefully,  withdraw  from  the  Union  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  Union  or  of  any  other  State. 


In  knots   they  stand,  or  in  rank  they  walk, 
Serious  in  aspect,  earnest  in  their  talk: 
Factious,  and  favoring  this  or  t'  other  side, 
As  their  strong  fancy  or  weak  reason  guide. 

— Dryden. 


211 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  22 

The  whole  body  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted.    Ephesians  4 :  16. 


Union  jDIton:  tDan  tfje  fetatr. 

(Extract   from   first   message   to  Congress,    July  4,    1861. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

What  is  sovereignty  in  the  political  sense  of  the  word?  Would 
it  be  far  from  wrong  to  define  it  a  political  community  without 
a  political  superior?  Tested  by  this,  no  one  of  our  States,  except 
Texas,  ever  was  a  sovereignty.  And  even  Texas  gave  up  the  char- 
acter on  coming  into  the  Union;  by  which  act  she  acknowledged 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  laws  and  treaties 
of  the  United  States,  made  in  pursuance  of  the  Constitution,  to 
be,  for  her,  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  The  States  have  their 
status  IN  the  Union,  and  they  have  no  other  legal  status.  If  they 
break  from  this  they  can  do  so  only  against  law  and  by  revolu- 
tion. The  Union,  and  not  themselves  separately,  procured  their 
independence  and  their  liberty  by  conquest  or  purchase.  The 
Union  gave  each  of  them  whatever  of  independence  and  liberty  it 
has.  The  Union  is  older  than  any  of  the  States,  and,  in  fact,  it 
created  them  as  States. 


Lord  of  the  universe,  shield  us  and  guide  us, 

Trusting  thee  always,  through  shadow  and  sun! 
Thou  hast  united  us,  who  shall  diride  ust 
Keep  us,  O  keep  us  the  many  in  one! 
Up  with  our  tanners  bright, 
Sprinkled  with  starry  light, 

Spread  its  fair  emblems  from  mountain  to  shore, 
While  through  the  sounding  sky 
Loud  rings  the  nation's  cry, 
"Union  and  Liberty!     One  evermore!" 

— Anonymous. 


212 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUL,Y  23 

The   wicked    borroweth,    and    payeth    not    again.      Psalms   37 : 21. 


Eeft  to  Pap  t&e  SDefttg. 


(Extract   from   first   message   to  Congress,    July   4,    1861. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

The  Nation  is  now  in  debt  for  money  applied  to  the  benefit  of 
these  so-called  seceding  States,  in  common  with  the  rest.  Is  it 
just,  either  that  creditors  shall  go  unpaid  or  the  remaining  States 
pay  the  whole?  A  part  of  the  present  National  debt  was  con- 
tracted to  pay  the  old  debt  of  Texas.  Is  it  just  that  she  shall 
leave  and  pay  no  part  of  this  herself?  Again,  if  one  State  may 
secede,  so  may  another,  and  when  all  shall  have  seceded,  none  is 
left  to  pay  the  debts.  Is  this  quite  just  to  creditors?  Did  we 
notify  them  of  this  sage  view  of  ours  when  we  borrowed  their 
money?  If  we  now  recognize  this  doctrine  by  allowing  the  seced- 
ers  to  go  in  peace,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  we  can  do  if  others 
choose  to  go,  or  to  extort  terms  upon  which  they  will  promise  to 
remain. 


Honor  's  a  sacred  tie — the  law  of  Icings, 

The  noble  mind's   distinguishing  perfection 

That  aids  and  strengthens  virtue  when  it  meets  her, 

And  imitates  her  actions  where  she  is  not. 

— Addison. 


213 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  24 

Hear  ye  the  words  of  this  covenant,  and  do  them.    Jeremiah  11 :  6. 


(Guarantee, 

(Extract   from  first   message  to   Congress,   July  4,   1861. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

He  desires  to  preserve  the  Government  that  it  may  be  adminis- 
tered for  all,  as  it  was  administered  by  the  men  who  made  it. 
Loyal  citizens  everywhere  have  a  right  to  claim  this  of  their 
Government,  and  the  Government  has  no  right  to  withhold  or  neg- 
lect it.  It  is  not  perceived  that  in  giving  it  there  is  any  coercion, 
conquest,  or  subjugation  in  any  sense  of  these  terms.  The  Gov- 
ernment provided,  and  all  the  States  have  accepted  the  provision, 
"that  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this 
Union  a  republican  form  of  government,"  but  if  a  State  may  law- 
fully go  out  of  the  Union,  having  done  so,  it  may  also  discard  the 
republican  form  of  government.  So  that  to  prevent  its  going  out 
is  an  indispensable  means  to  the  end  of  maintaining  the  guar- 
antee mentioned;  and  where  an  end  is  lawful  and  obligatory,  the 
indispensable  means  to  it  are  also  lawful  and  obligatory. 


The  honors  of  a  name  't  is  just  to  guard; 
They  are  a  trust  but  lent  us,  which  we  take 
And  should,  in  reverence  to  the  donor's  fame, 
With  care  transmit  them  down  to  other  hands. 

— Shirley. 


214 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  25 

Trust  In  the  Lord,  and  do  good.     Psalms  37 :  3. 


in  (Bod. 

(Extract  from   first    message   to   Congress,   July   4,    1861. 
Concluded  from  preceding  page.) 

In  full  view  of  his  great  responsibilty,  he  has  so  far  done  what 
he  has  deemed  his  duty.  You  will  now,  according  to  your  own 
judgment,  perform  yours.  He  sincerely  hopes  that  your  views 
and  your  actions  may  so  accord  with  his  as  to  assure  all  faith- 
ful citizens  who  have  been  disturbed  in  their  rights,  of  a  certain 
and  speedy  restoration  to  them,  under  the  Constitution  and  laws, 
and  having  thus  chosen  our  cause  without  guile,  and  with  pure 
purpose,  let  us  renew  our  trust  in  God  and  go  forward  without 
fear  and  with  manly  hearts. 


Courage,  brother!  do  not  stumble, 

Though  thy  path  be  dark  as  night; 
There  's  a  star  to  guide  the  humble; 

Trust  in  God  and  do  the  right. 
Let  the  road  be  rough  and  dreary 

And  its  end  far  out  of  sight, 
Foot  it  bravely;  strong  or  weary, 

Trust  in  God  and  do  the  right. 

— Norman  MacLeod. 


215 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  26 

I  will  commit  thy  government  Into  his  hand.     Isaiah  22  :  21. 


(Kobtrnment 

(To  a  friend  In  Louisiana,  July  26,  1862.) 

I  am  a  patient  man — always  willing  to  forgive  on  the  Christian 
terms  of  repentance,  and  also  to  give  ample  time  for  repentance. 
Still  I  must  save  this  Government,  if  possible.  What  I  cannot  do, 
of  course,  I  will  not  do;  but  it  may  be  well  understood,  once  for 
3,11,  that  I  shall  not  surrender  this  game  leaving  any  available 
card  unplayed. 


He  hears  the  added  strain  it  bears 

For  all  who  bravely  fought, 
For  him  who  in  the  silence  wears 

The  scars  the  battle  brought — 
Who  wears  them  with  a  hero's  might 

And  honors  still  the  hour 
That  won  a  nation's  priceless  right, 

And  proved  a  nation's  dower. 

He  hears  it  when  it  brings  the  name 

That  won  a  martyr's  crown, 
Our  glorious  chief,  whose  stainless  fame 

His  country's  best  renown! 
It  brings  the  matchless  words  he  said, 

Standing  above  their  sod, 
In  hour  whose  burning  import  led 

A  people  nearer  God. 

— Mary  M.  Adams 


SI  6 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  S7 

Honour  widows  that  are  widows  indeed.     I.  Timothy  5  :  3. 


TOf  SDtepengfinff  of 


(To   the    Postmaster-General,    July   27,    1863.) 

Yesterday  little  endorsements  of  mine  went  to  you  in  two 
cases  of  postmasterships,  sought  for  widows  whose  husbands  have 
fallen  in  the  battles  of  this  war.  These  cases,  occurring  on  the 
same  day,  brought  me  to  reflect  more  attentively  than  what  I  had 
before  done  as  to  what  is  fairly  due  from  us  here  in  the  dis- 
pensing of  patronage  toward  the  men  who  by  fighting  our  battles, 
bear  the  chief  burden  of  saving  our  country.  My  conclusion  is 
that,  other  claims  and  qualifications  being  equal,  they  have  the 
right,  and  this  is  especially  applicable  to  the  disabled  soldier  and 
the  deceased  soldier's  family. 


Cold  now  are  firesides  with  love  once  aglow, 

Cold  now  are  brave  hearts  that  for  us  nobly  fought! 

Loved  ones  they  left,  't  is  our  task  now  to  cheer, 
Help  we  the  helpless  in  sorrow  who  bow, 
Comfort  we  bring  where  war  misery  brought. 

— Anonymous. 


217 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JTJLY  28 

Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle  ?     Matthew  20 :  6. 


(From  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Bullitt  of  New  Orleans,  July 
28,   1862.) 

The  copy  of  a  letter  addressed  to  yourself  by  Mr.  Thomas  J. 
Durant,  has  been  shown  me.  The  writer  appears  to  be  an  able,  a 
dispassionate,  and  an  entirely  sincere  man.  The  first  part  of  the 
letter  is  devoted  to  an  effort  to  show  that  the  secession  ordinance 
of  Louisiana  was  adopted  against  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the 
people.  This  is  probably  true,  and  in  that  fact  may  be  found 
some  instruction.  Why  did  they  allow  the  ordinance  to  go  into 
effect?  Why  did  they  not  exert  themselves?  Why  stand  passive 
and  allow  themselves  to  be  trodden  down  by  a  minority?  Why 
did  they  not  hold  popular  meetings,  and  have  a  convention  of 
their  own  to  express  and  enforce  the  true  sentiments  of  the 
State?  If  pre-organization  was  against  them,  then  why  not  do 
this  now,  that  the  United  States  army  is  present  to  protect  them? 
The  paralyzer — the  dead  palsy — of  the  Government  in  the  whole 
struggle  is,  that  this  class  of  men  will  do  nothing  for  the  Govern- 
ment, nothing  for  themselves,  except  demanding  that  the  Govern- 
ment shall  not  strike  its  enemies,  lest  they  be  struck  by  accident. 


Do  not,  then,  stand  idly  waiting 

For  some  greater  work  to  do; 
Fortune  is  a  lazy  goddess, 

She  will  never  come  to  you. 
Go  and  toil  in  any  vineyard; 

Do  not  fear  to  do  or  dare; 
If  you  want  a  field  of  laoor, 

You  can  find  it  anywhere. 

— Mrs.  Ellen  H.   Gates. 


218 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  SO 

Prepare  war,  wake  up  the  mighty  men,  let  all  the  men  of  war  draw 
near :  let  them  come  up.     Joel  3  :  9. 


(From  a  letter  to  Mr.  Bullltt  of  New  Orleans,  July  28, 
1862.      Continued   from    preceding  page.) 

If  there  were  a  class  of  men  who,  having  no  choice  of  sides  in 
the  contest,  were  anxious  only  to  have  quiet  and  comfort  for 
themselves  while  it  rages,  and  to  fall  in  with  the  victorious  side 
at  the  end  of  it,  without  loss  to  themselves,  their  advice  as  to  the 
mode  of  conducting  the  contest  would  be  precisely  such  as  his. 
He  speaks  of  no  duty,  apparently  thinks  of  none  resting  upon 
Union  men.  He  even  thinks  it  injurious  to  the  Union  cause  that 
they  should  be  restrained  in  trade  and  passage,  without  taking 
sides.  They  are  to  touch  neither  a  sail  nor  a  pump — live  merely 
passengers  ("deadheads"  at  that),  to  be  carried  snug  and  dry 
throughout  the  storm  and  safely  landed  right  side  up.  Nay, 
more — even  a  mutineer  is  to  go  untouched,  lest  these  sacred  pas- 
sengers receive  an  accidental  wound.  Of  course,  the  rebellion 
will  never  be  suppressed  in  Louisiana  if  the  professed  Union  men 
there  will  neither  help  to  do  it  nor  permit  the  Government  to  do 
it  without  their  help. 


Up  the  hillside,  down  the  glen, 
Rouse  the  sleeping  citizen: 
Summons  out  the  might  of  men. 

Perish  party — perish  clan; 
Strike  together  ichile  you  can 
Like  the  strong  arm  of  one  man. 

— Whittier. 


219 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JUL.Y  30 

Laying  aside  all  malice.    I.  Peter  2 : 1. 


in 

(From  a  letter  to  Mr.   Bullitt  of  New  Orleans,   July  28, 
1862.      Continued   from    preceding   page.) 

What  would  you  do  in  my  position?  Would  you  drop  the  war 
where  it  is,  or  would  you  prosecute  it  in  future  with  elder-stock 
squirts,  charged  with  rosewater?  Would  you  deal  lighter  blows, 
rather  than  heavier  ones?  Would  you  give  up  the  contest,  leav- 
ing every  available  means  unapplied?  I  am  in  no  boastful  mood. 
I  shall  not  do  more  than  I  can,  but  I  shall  do  all  I  can  to  save  the 
Government,  which  is  my  sworn  duty  as  well  as  my  personal  in- 
clination. I  shall  do  nothing  in  malice.  What  I  deal  with  is  too 
vast  for  malicious  dealing. 


/  never  see  a  wounded  enemy, 

Or  hear  of  foe  slain  on  the  battle-field, 

But  I  think  me  of  his  pleasant  home, 

And  how  his  mother  and  his  sisters  watch 

For  one  who  never  more  returns;  poor  souls  I 

I  've  often  wept  to  think  how  they  must  weep. 

— Mrs.  Hale. 


220 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


JULY  31 

Let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule,  let  us  mind  the  same  thing.     Philipplans 
3:16. 


Eato  of 

(Order  issued  to  the  entire  army,  July  30,  1863.) 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  government  to  give  protection  to  its  citi- 
zens, of  whatever  class,  color,  or  condition,  and  especially  to  those 
who  are  duly  organized  as  soldiers  in  the  public  service.  The 
law  of  nations  and  the  usages  and  customs  of  war,  as  carried  on 
by  civilized  powers,  permit  no  distinction  as  to  color  in  the  treat- 
ment of  prisoners  of  war  as  public  enemies.  To  sell  or  enslave 
any  captured  person,  on  account  of  his  color,  and  for  no  offense 
against  the  laws  of  war,  is  a  relapse  into  barbarism  and  a  crime 
against  the  civilization  of  the  age.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  will  give  the  same  protection  to  all  its  soldiers;  and  if  the 
enemy  shall  sell  or  enslave  any  one  because  of  his  color,  the 
offense  shall  be  punished  by  retaliation  upon  the  enemy's  pris- 
oners in  our  possessions. 


But  let  our  tribute  reach  the  height 

The  larger  manhood  saw; 
That  broad  humanity  whose  light 

Was  Thy  diviner  laic; 
That  laic  ivhose  good  is  absolute. 

Whose  mandate,  strong  and  pure, 
From  every  ill  can  good  transmute, 

And  make  its  change  secure. 

— Mary  M.  Adams. 


221 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  1 

Now   I   beseech   you    .    .    .    that  ye  strive  together  with   me  in   your 
prayers  to  God  for  me.     Romans  15  :  30. 


of  tlK  Pioug  and  tlje 


(Reply  to  Rev.  Dr.  Pohlman  and  others  of  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania,  August,  1864.) 

I  welcome  here  the  representatives  of  the  Evangelical  Luther- 
ans of  the  United  States.  I  accept  with  gratitude  their  assur- 
ances of  the  sympathy  and  support  of  that  enlightened,  influen- 
tial, and  loyal  class  of  my  fellow-citizens  in  an  important  crisis, 
which  involves,  in  my  judgment,  not  only  the  civil  and  religious 
liberties  of  our  own  dear  land,  hut  in  a  large  degree  the  civil  and 
religious  liberties  of  mankind  in  many  countries  and  through 
many  ages.  You  well  know,  gentlemen,  and  the  whole  world 
knows  how  reluctantly  I  accepted  this  issue  of  battle  forced  upon 
me,  on  my  advent  to  this  place,  by  the  internal  enemies  of  our 
country.  .  .  .  You  all  may  recollect  that  in  taking  up  the  sword 
thus  forced  into  our  hands,  this  Government  appealed  to  the 
prayers  of  the  pious  and  the  good,  and  declared  that  it  placed  its 
whole  dependence  upon  the  favor  of  God.  I  now  humbly  and 
reverently,  'n  your  presence,  reiterate  the  acknowledgement  of 
that  dependence,  not  doubting  that  if  it  shall  please  the  Divine 
Being  who  determines  the  destinies  of  nations,  that  this  shall  re- 
main a  united  people,  they  will,  humbly  seeking  the  Divine  guid- 
ance, make  their  prolonged  national  existence  a  source  of  new 
benefits  to  themselves  and  their  successors,  and  to  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  mankind. 


We  tell  thy  doom  without  a  sigh, 

For  thou  art  Freedom's  now,  and  Fame's — 

One  of  the  few  immortal  names 
That  were  not  born  to  die. 

— Halleck. 


222 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  2 

And  men  were  scorched  with  great  heat,    .    .    .   and  blasphemed  the  God 
of  heaven  because  of  their  pains  and  their  sores.     Revelation  16  :  9,  11. 


C5ot  to  §>it  on  tfie 

(To  a  private  secretary  of  one  of  the  cabinet  ministers, 
who  presented  a  discouraging  account  of  the  political  situa- 
tion in  August,  1864.) 

Well,  I  cannot  run  the  political  machine;  I  have  enough  on  my 
hands  without  that.  It  is  the  people's  business — the  election  is 
in  their  hands.  If  they  turn  their  hacks  to  the  fire  and  get 
scorched  in  the  rear,  they'll  find  they  have  got  to  sit  on  the 
blister. 

(At  another  time,  referring  to  the  probability  of  his  renomination.) 

If  the  people  think  I  have  managed  their  "case"  for  them  well 
enough  to  trust  me  to  carry  it  up  to  the  next  term,  I  am  sure  I 
shall  be  glad  to  take  it. 


O  rough,  strong  soul,  your  noble  self-possession 
Is  unforgotten.     Still  your  work  remains. 

You  freed  from  bondage  and  from  vile  oppression 
A   race  in  clanking  chains. 

— Eugene  J.  Hall. 


223 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  3 

Great  men  are  not  always  wise :    .    .    .    I  also  will  show  mine  opinion. 
Job.  32  :  9,  10. 


<a00umeb 

(From  speech  at   Springfield,   Illinois,   June   26,   1857.) 

I  have  said,  in  substance,  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  was,  in 
part,  based  on  assumed  historical  facts  which  were  not  really 
true,  and  I  ought  not  to  leave  the  subject  without  giving  some 
reasons  for  saying  this.  I  therefore  give  an  instance  or  two, 
which  I  think  fully  sustain  me.  Chief  Justice  Taney,  in  deliver- 
ing the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the  Court,  insists  at  great 
length  that  negroes  were  no  part  of  the  people  who  made,  or  for 
whom  was  made  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  or  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States.  On  the  contrary,  Judge  Curtis,  in  his 
dissenting  opinion,  shows  that  in  five  of  the  then  thirteen  States, 
to  wit,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
and  North  Carolina,  free  negroes  were  voters,  and,  in  proportion 
to  their  numbers,  had  the  same  part  in  making  the  Constitution 
that  the  white  people  had. 


This  is  a  great  fault  in  a  chronologer, 
To  turn  parasite;  an  absolute  historian 
Should  be  in  fear  of  none;  neither  should  he 
Write  anything  more  than  truth  for  friendship 
Or  else  for  hate;  but  keep  himself  equal 
And  constant  in  all  his  discourses. 

— Lingua. 


224 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  4 

The   rich    and   poor    meet   together :    the   Lord   is   the    maker   of   them 
all.      Proverbs   22  :  2. 


jail  Better  anto  happier 

(Written  July  1,  1854.) 

Most  governments  have  been  based,  practically,  on  the  denial 
of  the  equal  rights  of  men.  Ours  began  by  affirming  those  rights. 
They  said,  "Some  men  are  too  ignorant  and  vicious  to  share  in 
government."  "Possibly  so,"  said  we,  "and  by  your  system  you 
would  always  keep  them  ignorant  and  vicious.  We  propose  to 
give  all  a  chance,  and  we  expect  the  weaker  to  grow  stronger,  the 
ignorant  wiser,  and  all  better  and  happier  together."  We  made 
the  experiment,  and  the  fruit  is  before  us.  Look  at  it,  and  think 
of  it!  Look  at  it  in  its  aggregate  grandeur,  extent  of  country, 
and  numbers  of  population. 


God  of  the  Free!  our  Nation  Mess 

In  its  strong  manhood  as  its  Mrth, 
And  make  its  life  a  star  of  hope 

For  all  the  struggling  of  the  earth. 

Then  shout  beside  thine  Oak,  O  North ! 

O  South,  icave  answer  icith  thy  Palm  ! 
And  in  our  Union's  heritage 

Together  sing  the  Nation's  psalm! 

— W.   R.   Wallace. 


226 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  5 

Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  people ;    .    .    .    lift  up  a  standard  for  the 
people.     Isaiah  62  :  10. 


foe  t&e  jfteto  Kelationg. 

(From  letter  to  General  Banks,  August  5,  1863.) 

While  I  very  well  know  what  I  would  be  glad  for  Louisiana  to 
do,  it  is  quite  a  different  thing  for  me  to  assume  direction  of  the 
matter.  I  would  be  glad  for  her  to  make  a  new  Constitution, 
recognizing  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  adopting  eman- 
cipation in  those  parts  of  the  State  to  which  the  Proclamation 
does  not  apply.  And  while  she  is  at  it,  I  think  it  would  not  be 
objectionable  for  her  to  adopt  some  practical  system  by  which 
the  two  races  could  gradually  live  themselves  out  of  their  old  re- 
lations to  each  other,  and  both  come  out  better  prepared  for  the 
new.  Education  for  young  blacks  should  be  included  in  the  plan. 
After  all,  the  power  of  element  of  "contact"  may  be  sufficient 
for  this  probationary  period,  and  by  its  simplicity  and  flexibility 
may  be  better.  As  an  anti-slavery  man,  I  have  a  motive  to  desire 
emancipation  which  pro-slavery  men  do  not  have;  but  even  they 
have  strong  enough  reason  to  thus  place  themselves  again  under 
the  shield  of  the  Union,  and  to  thus  perpetually  pledge  against 
the  recurrence  of  the  scenes  through  which  we  are  now  passing. 


Lord,   bid  war's   trumpet  cease; 
Fold  the  whole  earth  in  peace 

Under  thy  wings; 
Make  all  thy  nations  one, 
All  hearts  beneath  thy  sun, 
Till  thou  shalt  reign  alone, 

Great  King  of  kings. 

— O.  W.  Holmes. 


226 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  6 

Wherefore  hast  thou  afflicted  thy  servant?    .    .    .    that  thou  layest  the 
burden  of  all  this  people  upon  me?     Numbers  11:11. 


&olicitudt  tor  'W*  (Breat  Country. 

(In  reply,  August,  1864,  to  Ex-Governor  Randall,  of  Wis- 
consin, who  suggested  that  he  seek  seculsion  and  play  hermit 
for  invigoration.) 

Aye,  two  or  three  weeks  would  do  me  good,  but  I  cannot  fly 
from  my  thoughts;  my  solicitude  for  this  great  country  follows 
me  wherever  I  go.  I  don't  think  it  is  personal  vanity  or  ambi- 
tion, though  I  am  not  free  from  these  infirmities,  but  I  cannot 
but  feel  that  the  weal  or  woe  of  this  great  Nation  will  be  decided 
in  November.  There  is  no  program  offered  by  any  wing  of  the 
Democratic  party  but  that  must  result  in  the  permanent  destruc- 
tion of  the  Union. 


Through  years  of  care,  to  rest  and  joy  a  stranger, 
You  saw  complete  the  work  you  had  begun; 

Thoughtless  of  threats,  nor  heeding  death  or  danger, 
You  toiled  till  all  was  done. 

— Eugene  J.  Hall. 


227 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  7 

Showing  all  good  fidelity.    Titus  2  : 10. 


jFaitf)  toitfi  jfrienu  anu  foe. 


(To   Ex-Governor   Randall    and   others,    in    August,    1864. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

There  have  been  men  base  enough  to  propose  to  me  to  return 
to  slavery  the  black  warriors  of  Port  Hudson  and  Olustree,  and 
thus  win  the  respect  of  the  masters  they  fought.  Should  I  do  so, 
I  should  deserve  to  be  damned  in  time  and  eternity.  Come  what 
will,  I  will  keep  my  faith  with  friend  and  foe.  My  enemies  pre- 
tend that  I  am  now  carrying  on  this  war  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
abolition.  So  long  as  I  am  President,  it  shall  be  carried  on  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  restoring  the  Union;  but  no  human  power 
can  subdue  this  rebellion  without  the  use  of  the  emancipation 
policy,  and  every  other  policy  calculates  to  weaken  the  moral 
and  physical  forces  of  the  rebellion. 


Let  come  what  will,  I  mean  to  bear  it  out, 

And  either  live  with  glorious  victory 

Or  die  with  fame,  renown' A  for  chivalry: 

He  is  not  worthy  of  the  honeycomb, 

That  shuns  the  hive  because  the  bees  have  stings. 

— Shakespeare. 


228 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  8 

Let  all  mine  enemies  be  ashamed    ...    let  them  return.     Psalms  6 :  10. 


(To    Ex-Governor   Randall    and   others,    In   August,    1864. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Freedom  has  given  us  two  hundred  thousand  men  raised  on 
Southern  soil.  It  will  give  us  more  yet.  Just  so  much  it  has  sub- 
tracted from  the  enemy,  and  instead  of  alienating  the  South, 
there  are  now  evidences  of  a  fraternal  feeling  growing  up  be- 
tween our  men  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  rebel  soldiers.  Let 
my  enemies  prove  to  the  country  that  the  destruction  of  slavery 
is  not  necessary  to  a  restoration  of  the  Union.  I  will  abide  the 
issue. 


Beyond  the  present  sin  and  shame, 

Wrong's  bitter,  cruel,  scorching  blight, 
We  see  the  end  at  which  we  aim — 

The  blessed  kingdom  of  the  Right. 
What  though  its  coming  long  delay, 

With  haughty  foes  it  still  must  cope; 
It  gives  us  that  for  which  to  pray — 

A  field  for  toil  and  faith  and  hope. 

— W.  DeWitt  Hyde. 


229 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  9 

Every  day  wrest  my  words.     Psalms  56 :  5. 


in  felabe  &tat*0. 

(From  a  speech  at  Chicago,  July  10,  1858.) 

I  have  said  a  hundred  times,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  take 
it  back,  that  I  believe  there  is  no  right,  and  ought  to  be  no  in- 
clination, in  the  people  of  the  free  States  to  enter  into  the  slave 
States  and  interfere  with  the  question  of  slavery  at  all.  I  have 
said  that  always;  Judge  Douglas  has  heard  me  say  it — if  not 
quite  a  hundred  times,  at  least  as  good  as  a  hundred  times;  and 
when  it  is  said  that  I  am  in  favor  of  interfering  with  slavery 
where  it  exists,  I  know  it  is  unwarranted  by  anything  I  have  ever 
intended,  and,  as  I  believe,  by  anything  I  have  ever  said.  If  by 
any  means  I  have  ever  used  language  which  could  fairly  be  so 
construed  (as,  however,  I  believe  I  never  have),  I  now  correct  it. 
So  much,  then,  for  the  inference  that  Judge  Douglas  draws,  that 
I  am  in  favor  of  setting  the  sections  at  war  with  one  another. 


He  finds  his  fellow  guilty  of  a  skin 

Not  color'd  like  his  own,  and  having  pow'r 

T'  enforce  the  wrong,  for  such  a  worthy  cause 

Dooms  and  devotes  him  as  his  laivful  prey. 

— Cowper. 


230 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  10 

What  Is  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite,  though  he  hath  gained,  when  God 
taketh   away  his  soul  ?     Job   27  :  8. 


j|5o 

(From   a   speech   at   Chicago,   July   10,    1858.      Continued 
from    preceding   page.) 

I  do  not  claim,  gentlemen,  to  be  unselfish;  I  do  not  pretend 
that  I  would  not  like  to  go  to  the  United  States  Senate;  I  make 
no  such  hypocritical  pretense,  but  I  do  say  to  you  that  in  this 
mighty  issue  it  is  nothing  to  you — nothing  to  the  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  Nation,  whether  or  not  Judge  Douglas  or  myself 
shall  ever  be  heard  of  after  this  night;  it  may  be  a  trifle  to  either 
of  us,  but  in  connection  with  this  mighty  question,  upon  which 
hang  the  destinies  of  the  Nation,  perhaps,  it  is  absolutely  noth- 
ing; but  where  will  you  be  placed  if  you  reindorse  Judge  Douglas? 
.  .  .  Plainly,  you  stand  ready  saddled,  bridled,  and  harnessed, 
and  waiting  to  be  driven  over  to  the  slavery  extension  camp  of 
the  Nation — just  ready  to  be  driven  over,  tied  together  in  a  lot, 
to  be  driven  over,  every  man  with  a  rope  around  his  neck,  that 
halter  being  held  by  Judge  Douglas. 


Vain  these  dreams,  and  vain  these  hopes; 

And  yet  't  is  these  give  birth 
To  each  high  purpose,  generous  deed, 

That  sanctifies  our  earth. 
He  icho  hath  highest  aims  in  view 
Must  dream  at  first  what  he  will  do. 

— Miss   Landon. 


231 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  11 

This  I  say,  lest  any  man  should  beguile  you  with  enticing  words.     Col- 
ossians   2 :  4. 


Counterfeit  Hogtc. 


(From  a  speech  in  Chicago,  July  10,  1858.     Continued 
from  preceding  page.) 

We  were  often — more  than  once  at  least —  in  the  course  of 
Judge  Douglas's  speech  last  night,  reminded  that  this  Government 
was  made  for  white  men — that  he  believed  it  was  made  for  white 
men.  Well,  that  is  putting  it  into  a  shape  in  which  no  one  wants 
to  deny  it;  but  the  Judge  then  goes  into  his  passion  for  drawing 
inferences  which  are  not  warranted.  I  protest  now,  and  forever, 
against  that  counterfeit  logic  which  presumes  that  because  I  did 
not  want  a  negro  woman  for  a  slave,  I  do  necessarily  want  her 
for  a  wife.  My  understanding  is  that  I  need  not  have  her  for 
either,  but  as  God  made  us  separate,  we  can  leave  one  another 
alone,  and  do  one  another  good  thereby.  There  are  white  men 
enough  to  marry  all  the  white  women,  and  enough  black  men  to 
marry  all  the  black  women,  and  in  God's  name  let  them  be  so 
married.  The  Judge  regales  us  with  the  terrible  enormities  that 
take  place  by  the  mixtures  of  races;  that  the  inferior  race  bears 
the  superior  down.  Why,  Judge,  if  we  do  not  let  them  get  to- 
gether in  the  Territories  they  won't  mix  there. 


Truth,  crushed  to  earth,  shall  rise  again, 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers; 
But  Error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain 

And  dies  amid  her  worshipers. 

— Bryant. 


232 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  12 

They  are  written  for  our  admonition.     I.   Corinthians  10 :  11. 


Sin  &&m0niti0n  of  flDur  Eorfr. 

(From   a  speech   in    Chicago,   July    10,    1858.      Continued 
from  preceding  page.) 

My  friend  has  said  to  me  that  I  am  a  poor  hand  to  quote  Scrip- 
ture. I  will  try  it  again,  however.  It  is  said  in  one  of  the  admo- 
nitions of  our  Lord,  "As  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,  be  ye 
also  perfect."  The  Savior,  I  suppose,  did  not  expect  that  any 
human  creature  could  be  perfect  as  the  Father  in  heaven,  but  he 
said,  "As  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,  be  ye  also  perfect." 
He  set  that  up  as  a  standard,  and  he  who  did  most  toward  reach- 
ing that  standard  attained  the  highest  degree,  of  moral  perfec- 
tion. So  I  say  in  relation  to  the  principle  that  all  men  are  cre- 
ated equal,  let  it  be  as  nearly  reached  as  we  can.  If  we  cannot 
give  freedom  to  every  creature,  let  us  do  nothing  that  will  im- 
pose slavery  upon  any  other  creature. 


Whoever,  with  an  earnest  soul, 

Strives  for  some  end  from  this  low  world  afar, 
Still  upward  travels   though  he  miss   the  goal, 

And  strays — tut  towards  a-  star! 

— Bulicer. 


233 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  13 

If  a  man  have  an  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  be  gone  astray,  doth 
he  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine,  and  goeth  into  the  mountains,  and  seek- 
eth  that  which  is  gone  astray  ?  Matthew  18  : 12. 


Parable  of  t& 

(From   speech   at  Springfield,   Illinois,  July  17,   1858.) 

He  says  I  have  a  proneness  for  quoting  Scripture.  If  I  should 
do  so  now,  it  occurs  that  perhaps  he  places  himself  somewhat 
upon  the  ground  of  the  parable  of  the  lost  sheep  which  went 
astray  upon  the  mountains,  and  when  the  owner  of  the  hundred 
sheep  found  the  one  that  was  lost,  and  threw  it  upon  his  shoul- 
ders and  came  home  rejoicing,  it  was  said  that  there  was  more 
rejoicing  over  the  one  sheep  that  was  lost  and  had  been  found, 
than  over  the  ninety  and  nine  in  the  fold.  The  application  is 
made  by  the  Savior  in  this  parable  thus:  "Verily,  I  say  unto 
you,  there  is  more  rejoicing  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  re- 
penteth,  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons  that  need  no 
repentance."  And  now,  if  the  Judge  claims  the  benefit  of  this 
parable,  let  him  repent;  let  him  not  come  up  here  and  say,  "I  am 
the  only  just  person,  and  you  are  the  ninety-nine  sinners!"  Re- 
pentance before  forgiveness  is  a  provision  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem, and  on  that  condition  alone  will  the  Republicans  grant  his 
forgiveness. 


There  were  ninety  and  nine  that  safely  lay 

In  the  shelter  of  the  fold, 
But  one  was  out  on  the  hills  away. 

Far  off  from  the  gates  of  gold — 
Away  on  the  mountains  icild  and  bare, 
Away  •from  the  tender  shepherd's  care. 

— E.  C.  Clephane. 


234 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  14 

Man  looketh  on  the  outward  appearance,  but  the  Lord  looketh  on  the 
heart.     I.  Samuel  16  :  7. 


Ifngitie  of  a  (Cattleman. 

(From    a   speech    at    Springfield,    Illinois,    July    17,    1858. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

I  shall  make  the  quotation  now,  with  some  comments  upon  it, 
as  I  have  already  said,  in  order  that  the  Judge  shall  be  left  en- 
tirely without  excuse  for  misrepresenting  me.  I  do  so  now,  as  I 
hope,  for  the  last  time.  I  do  this  in  great  caution,  in  order  that 
if  he  repeats  his  misrepresentation,  it  shall  be  plain  to  all  that 
he  does  so  wilfully.  If,  after  all,  he  still  persists,  I  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  reconstruct  the  course  I  have  marked  out  for  myself, 
and  draw  upon  such  humble  resources  as  I  have  for  a  new  course 
better  suited  to  the  real  exigencies  of  the  case.  I  set  out,  in  this 
campaign,  with  the  intention  of  conducting  it  strictly  as  a  gentle- 
man, in  substance  at  least,  if  not  in  the  outside  polish.  The  latter 
I  shall  never  be,  but  that  which  constitutes  the  inside  of  a  gentle- 
man I  hope  I  understand,  and  am  not  less  inclined  to  practice 
than  others.  It  was  my  purpose  and  expectation  that  this  can- 
vass would  be  conducted  upon  principle  and  with  fairness  on 
both  sides,  and  it  shall  not  be  my  fault  if  this  purpose  and  expec- 
tation shall  be  given  up. 


Lincoln,  your  manhood  shall  survive  forever, 
Shedding  a  fadeless  halo  'round  your  name, 

Urging  men  on,  with  wise  and  strong  endeavor, 
To  bright  and  honest  fame! 

— Eugene  J.  Hall. 


235 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  15 

Call  unto  me,  and  I  will  answer  thee,  and  show  thee  great  and  mighty 
things,  which  thou  knowest  not.     Jeremiah  33  :  3. 


C5ot)  &uperinten&  t&e  Solution. 

(Prom  a  letter  to  Honorable  Robertson,   Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky, August  15,  1855.) 

So  far  as  peaceful,  voluntary  emancipation  is  concerned,  the 
condition  of  the  negro  slave  in  America,  scarcely  less  terrible  to 
the  contemplation  of  a  free  mind,  is  now  as  fixed  and  hopeless  of 
change  for  the  better  as  that  of  the  lost  souls  of  the  finally  im- 
penitent. The  Autocrat  of  all  the  Russians  will  resign  his  crown 
and  proclaim  his  subjects  free  republicans  sooner  than  will  our 
American  masters  voluntarily  give  up  their  slaves.  Our  political 
problem  now  is,  "Can  we,  as  a  Nation,  continue  together  perma- 
nently— forever — half  slave  and  half  free?"  The  problem  is  too 
mighty  for  me.  May  God  in  his  mercy  superintend  the  solution. 


God  moves   in   a  mysterious   way, 

His  wonders  to  perform; 
He  plants  his  footsteps  in  the  sea, 

And  rides  upon  the  storm. 

Blind  unbelief  is  sure  to  err 
And  scan  his  work  in  vain; 

God  is  Ms  own  interpreter, 
And  he  will  make  it  plain. 

— Cowper. 


236 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  16 

Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn 
war  any  more.      Isaiah  2  :  4. 


Colors  t&an  Onr. 


(Extract  from  letter  written  August  16,  1863,  to  Honor- 
able James  C.  Conkllng,  of  Illinois.) 

The  signs  look  better.  The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes  un- 
vexed  to  the  sea.  Thanks  to  the  great  Northwest  for  it;  nor  yet 
wholly  to  them.  Three  hundred  miles  up  they  met  New  Eng- 
land, Empire,  Keystone,  and  Jersey  hewing  their  way  right  and 
left.  The  sunny  South,  too,  in  more  colors  than  one,  also  lent  a 
helping  hand.  On  the  spot  their  part  of  the  history  was  jotted 
down  in  black  and  white.  The  job  was  a  great  national  one,  and 
let  none  be  slighted  who  bore  an  honorable  part  in  it.  ...  Nor 
must  Uncle  Sam's  web  feet  be  forgotten.  At  all  the  watery  mar- 
gins they  have  been  present,  not  only  on  the  deep  sea,  the  broad 
bay,  and  the  rapid  river,  but  also  up  the  narrow  muddy  bayou, 
and  wherever  the  ground  was  a  little  damp  they  have  been  and 
made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all. 


There   's    a   good   time   coming,   toys, 

A  good  time  coming: 
We  may  not  live  to  see  the  day, 
But  earth  shall  glisten  in   the  ray 

Of  the  good  time  coming. 
Cannon  balls  may  aid  the  truth, 

But  thought's  a  weapon  stronger; 
We  'II  win  our  tattle  by  its  aid; 

Wait  a  little  longer. 

— Charles  Mackay. 


237 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  17 

Only  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  in  truth  with  all  your  heart :  for  con- 
sider how  great  things  he  hath  done  for  you.     I.  Samuel  12 :  24. 


(Extract  from  letter,  written  August  16,  1863,  to  Honor- 
able James  C.  Conkllng,  of  Illinois.  Continued  from  preced- 
ing page.) 

Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will  come 
soon,  and  come  to  stay,  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  the  keeping 
in  all  future  time.  It  will  then  have  been  proved  that  among 
free  men  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  from  the  ballot  to  the 
bullet,  and  that  they  who  take  such  appeal  are  sure  to  lose  their 
case  and  pay  the  cost.  And  there  will  be  some  black  men  who 
can  remember  that  with  silent  tongue,  and  clenched  teeth,  and 
steady  eye,  and  well-poised  bayonet  they  have  helped  mankind  on 
to  this  great  consummation;  while  I  fear  there  will  be  some  white 
men  unable  to  forget  that  with  malignant  and  deceitful  speech 
they  have  striven  to  hinder  it.  Still,  let  us  not  be  over  sanguine 
of  a  speedy  final  triumph.  Let  us  be  quite  sober.  Let  us  dili- 
gently apply  the  means,  never  doubting  that  a  just  God,  in  his 
own  good  time,  will  give  us  the  rightful  result. 


We  bless  thee  for  the  growing  light, 

The  advancing  thought,  the  widening  view, 
The  larger  freedom,  clearer  sight, 

Which   from  the  old  unfolds  the  new. 
With  wider  view  comes  loftier  goal; 

With  fuller  light  more  good  to  see; 
With  freedom,  fuller  self-control; 

With  knowledge,  deeper  reverence  be. 

— Samuel  Longfelloic. 


238 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  18 

Leave  it  for  an  inheritance  for  your  children  after  you.     I.  Chronicles 
28:8. 


(Extract  from  speech  to  a  regiment  of  Ohio  hundred-day 
men,  who  visited  the  President  August  18,  1864.) 

I  wish  it  to  be  more  generally  understood  what  the  country  is 
now  engaged  in.  We  have,  as  all  will  agree,  a  free  government, 
where  every  man  has  a  right  to  be  equal  with  every  other  man. 
In  this  great  struggle  this  form  of  government  and  every  form  of 
human  rights  are  endangered  if  our  enemies  succeed.  There  is 
more  involved  in  this  contest  than  is  realized  by  every  one.  There 
is  involved  in  this  struggle  the  question  whether  your  children 
and  my  children  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  we  have  enjoyed.  I 
say  this  in  order  to  impress  upon  you,  if  you  are  not  already  so 
impressed,  that  no  small  matter  should  divert  us  from  our  great 
purpose.  There  may  be  some  inequalities  in  the  practical  appli- 
cation of  our  system.  It  is  fair  that  each  man  shall  pay  taxes  in 
exact  proportion  to  the  value  of  his  property;  but  if  we  should 
wait,  before  collecting  a  tax,  to  adjust  the  taxes  upon  each  man 
in  exact  proportion  with  every  other  man,  we  should  never  col- 
lect any  tax  at  all.  There  may  be  mistakes  made  sometimes; 
things  may  be  done  wrong  while  all  the  officers  of  the  Govern- 
ment do  all  they  can  to  prevent  mistakes. 


O  God  of  battles,  let  thy  might 
Protect  our  armies  in  the  fight — 
Till    they  shall  win    the  victory 
And  set  the  hapless  bondman  free: — 

Till,  guided  by  thy  glorious  hand, 
Those  armies  reunite  the  land, 
And  North  and  South  alike  shall  raise 
To  God  their  peaceful  hymns  of  praise. 

— Park  Benjamin. 


239 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  19 

An  horse  Is  a  vain  thing  for  safety ;  neither  shall  he  deliver  any  by  his 
great  strength.     Psalms  33  :  17. 


Britc&en 

(In  reply  to  Douglas  in  the  campaign  of  1852,  who  spoke 
of  confidence  in  Providence.) 

Let  us  stand  by  our  candidate  (General  Scott)  as  faithfully  as 
he  has  always  stood  by  our  country,  and  I  much  doubt  if  we  do 
not  perceive  a  slight  abatement  of  Judge  Douglas's  confidence  in 
Providence  as  well  as  the  people.  I  suspect  that  confidence  is  not 
more  firmly  fixed  with  the  Judge  than  it  was  with  the  old  woman 
whose  horse  ran  away  with  her  in  a  buggy.  She  said  she  "trusted 
in  Providence  till  the  britchen  broke,"  and  then  she  "didn't  know 
what  on  airth  to  do."  The  chance  is,  the  Judge  will  see  the 
britchen  broke,  and  then  he  can,  at  his  leisure,  bewail  the  fate  of 
Locofocism  as  the  victim  of  misplaced  confidence. 


Better  to  weave  in  the  iceb  of  life 

A  bright  and  golden  filling, 
And  to  do  God's  will  with  a  ready  heart 

And  hands  that  are  swift  and  icilling, 
Than  to  snap  the  delicate  thread 

Of  a  curious  life  asunder, 
And  then  Heaven  blame  for  the  tangled  ends, 

And  sit  and  grieve  and  wonder. 

— Charles  Mackay. 


240 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  20 

Let  God  be  true,  but  every  man  a  liar.     Romans  3  : 4. 


&utijoritp  of  a  Digger  Character. 

(From   first  joint   debate  with   Mr.   Douglas,   at   Ottawa, 
Illinois,  August  21,  1858.) 

He  has  read  from  my  speech  in  Springfield,  in  which  I  say, 
"A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  Does  the  Judge 
say  it  can  stand?  I  don't  know  whether  he  does  or  not.  The 
Judge  does  not  seem  to  be  attending  to  me  just  now,  but  I  would 
like  to  know  if  it  is  his  opinion  that  a  house  divided  against 
itself  can  stand.  If  he  does,  then  there  is  a  question  of  veracity, 
not  between  him  and  me,  but  between  the  Judge  and  an  authority 
of  a  somewhat  higher  character.  Now,  my  friends,  I  ask  your 
attention  to  this  matter  for  the  purpose  of  saying  something 
seriously.  I  know  that  the  Judge  may  readily  enough  agree  with 
me  that  the  maxim  which  was  put  forth  by  the  Savior  is  true, 
but  he  may  allege  that  I  misapply  it;  and  the  Judge  has  a  right 
to  urge  that,  in  my  application,  I  do  misapply  it,  and  then  I  have 
a  right  to  show  that  I  do  not  misapply  it.  When  he  undertakes  to 
say  that  because  I  think  this  Nation,  so  far  as  the  question  of 
slavery  is  concerned,  will  all  become  one  thing  or  all  the  other,  I 
am  in  favor  of  bringing  about  a  dead  uniformity  in  the  various 
States,  in  all  their  institutions,  he  argues  erroneously. 


Make  us  eternal  truths  receive, 
And  practice  all  that  we  believe; 
Give  us  thyself,  that  we  may  see 
The  Father  and  the  Son  by  thee. 

— Anonymous. 


241 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  bOOK 


AUGUST  21 

Neither  at  any  time  used  we  flattering  words,  as  ye  know.     I.  Thessa- 
lonians  2  :  5. 


&  Compliment 

(From  first  joint  debate  with  Mr.  Douglas  at  Ottawa, 
Illinois,  August  21,  1858,  referring  to  his  "Divided-House" 
speech.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

When  my  friend,  Judge  Douglas,  came  to  Chicago,  on  the  9th 
of  July,  this  speech  having  been  delivered  on  the  16th  of  June,  he 
made  an  harangue  there,  in  which  he  took  hold  of  this  speech  of 
mine,  showing  that  he  had  carefully  read  it;  and  while  he  paid 
no  attention  to  this  matter  at  all,  but  complimented  me  as  being 
a  "kind,  amiable,  and  intelligent  gentleman,"  notwithstanding  I 
had  said  this,  he  goes  on  and  eliminates  or  draws  out  from  my 
speech  this  tendency  of  mine  to  set  the  States  at  war  with  one 
another,  to  make  all  the  institutions  uniform,  and  set  the  niggers 
and  white  people  to  marrying  together.  Then,  as  the  Judge  had 
complimented  me  with  these  pleasant  titles  (I  must  confess  my 
weakness),  I  was  a  little  "taken,"  for  it  came  from  a  great  man. 
I  was  not  very  much  accustomed  to  flattery,  and  it  came  the 
sweeter  to  me.  I  was  like  the  Hoosier  with  the  gingerbread, 
when  he  said  he  reckoned  he  loved  it  better  than  any  other  man, 
and  got  less  of  it.  As  the  Judge  has  so  flattered  me,  I  could  not 
make  up  my  mind  that  he  meant  to  deal  unfairly  with  me,  so  I 
went  to  work  to  show  him  that  he  misunderstood  the  whole  scope 
of  my  speech,  and  that  I  really  never  intended  to  set  the  people 
at  war  with  one  another. 


Treachery  often  lurks 

In  compliments.      You  have  sent  so  many  posts 
Of  undertakings,  they  outride  performance, 
And  make  me  think  your  fair  pretences  aim 
At  some  intended  ill,  which  my  prevention 
Must  strive   to   avert. 

—Xabb. 


242 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  22 

For  the  transgression  of  a  land  many  are  the  princes  thereof :  but  by  a 
man  of  understanding  and  knowledge  the  state  thereof  shall  be  prolonged. 
Proverbs  28  :  2. 


tfje  Union. 

(Extract  from  a  reply  to  an  editorial   In  the  New  York 
Tribune  by   Horace  Greeley,  August  22,  1862.) 

I  would  save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  the  shortest  way  under 
the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  National  authority  can  be  re- 
stored, the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  "the  Union  as  it  was."  If 
there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they  could 
at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them.  If 
there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they  could  at 
the  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them.  My 
paramount  object  in  this  struggle  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  not 
either  to  save  or  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union  with- 
out freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by 
freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  do  it  by  freeing 
some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  do  that.  What  I  do  about 
slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  because  I  believe  it  helps  to 
save  this  Union;  and  what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not 
believe  it  would  help  to  save  the  Union.  I  shall  do  less  whenever 
I  shall  believe  what  I  am  doing  hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do 
more  whenever  I  shall  believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause. 


To  the  hero,  when  his  sivord 

Has  won  the  battle  for  the  free, 
Death's  voice  sounds  like  a  prophet's  word: 
And  in  its  hollow  tones  are  heard 
The  thanks  of  millions  yet  to  be. 

— Halleck 


243 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  23 

Thou  knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth.     Proverbs  27 : 1. 


Co-operate  toitf)  tfjc 

(Prom  a  memorandum  dated  August  23,  1864.) 

This  morning,  as  for  some  days  past,  it  seems  exceedingly  prob- 
able that  this  administration  will  not  be  reflected.  Then  it  will 
be  my  duty  to  so  cooperate  with  the  President-elect  as  to  save  the 
Union  between  the  election  and  the  inauguration,  as  he  will  have 
secured  his  election  on  such  ground  that  he  cannot  possibly  save 
it  afterwards. 


Safe  in  Fame's  gallery  through  all  the  years, 
Our  dearest  picture  hangs,  your  steadfast  face, 
Whose  eyes  hold  all  the  pathos  of  the  race 

Redeemed  by  you  from  servitude's  sad  tears. 

And  how  redeemed f      With  agony  of  grief; 

With  ceaseless  labor  in  war's  lurid  light; 

With  such  deep  anguish  in  each  lonely  night, 
Your  soul  sweat  very  blood  ere  came  relief. 

What  crown  have  you  who  bore  that  cross  below  t 

O  faithful  one,  what  is  your  life  above  f 

Is  there  a  higher  gift  in  God's  pure  love 
Than  to  have  lived  on  earth  as  Man  of  Woef 

— Mary  Livingston  Burdick. 


244 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  24 

A  man  after  mine  own  heart.     Acts  13  :  22. 


Clap. 


(From   first   joint   debate  with   Mr.    Douglas   at    Ottawa, 
Illinois,  August  21,  1858.) 

Henry  Clay,  my  beau  ideal  of  a  statesman,  the  man  for  whom 
I  fought  all  my  humble  life — Henry  Clay  once  said  of  a  class  of 
men  who  would  repress  all  tendencies  to  liberty  and  ultimate 
emancipation,  that  they  must,  if  they  would  do  this,  go  back  to 
the  era  of  our  Independence  and  muzzle  the  cannon  which  thun- 
ders its  annual  joyous  return;  they  must  blow  out  the  moral 
lights  around  us;  they  must  penetrate  the  human  soul  and  eradi- 
cate there  the  love  of  liberty;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  could 
they  perpetuate  slavery  in  this  country!  To  my  thinking,  Judge 
Douglas  is,  by  his  example  and  vast  influence,  doing  that  very 
thing  in  this  community,  when  he  says  that  the  negro  has  noth- 
ing in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Henry  Clay  plainly 
understood  the  contrary. 


We  tell  thy  doom  without  a  sigh, 
For  thou  art  Freedom's  now,  and  Fame's; 
One  of  the  feic,  th'  immortal  names, 

That  were  not  born  to  die. 

— Halleck. 


245 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  25 

Her  sun  is  gone  down  while  It  was  yet  day.     Jeremiah  15  :  9. 


Sinn  l&utledge. 


(Ann  Rutledge,  to  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  was  engaged,  died 
August  25,  1835.  Said  to  a  friend  one  stormy  night  shortly 
after  her  death.) 

The  thought  of  the  snow  and  the  rain  on  her  grave  fills  me 
with  indescribable  grief. 

(To  an  old  friend,  after  his  election  to  the  Presidency, 
who  asked  if  it  was  true  that  he  loved  and  courted  Ann 
Rutledge.) 

It  is  true — true;  indeed  I  did.  I  have  loved  the  name  of  Rut- 
ledge  to  this  day.  It  was  my  first.  I  loved  the  woman  dearly. 
She  was  a  handsome  girl;  would  have  made  a  good,  loving  wife; 
was  natural  and  quite  intellectual,  though  not  highly  educated. 
I  did  honestly  and  truly  love  the  girl,  and  think  often  of  her  now. 


And  then  I  think  of  one  who  in 

Her  youthful  beauty  died, 
The  fair,  meek  'blossom  that  grew  up 

And  faded  by  my  side; 
In  the  cold,  moist  earth  we  laid  her, 

When  the  forest  cast  the  leaf, 
And  we  wept  that  one  so  lovely 

Should  have  a  life  so  brief: 
Yet  not  unmeet  it  was  that  one, 

Like  that  young  friend  of  ours, 
So  gentle  and  so  beautiful, 

Should  perish  with  the  flowers. 

— Bryant. 


246 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  20 

Let  us   lay  aside  every  weight.     Hebrews  12  : 1. 


Qfllaibe  S^mor  SDtffmnceg. 


(Prom  a  speech  in  second  joint  debate  with  Mr.  Douglas, 
at  Freeport,  Illinois,  August  27,  1858.) 

For  my  part,  I  do  hope  that  all  of  us,  entertaining  a  common 
sentiment  in  opposition  to  what  appears  to  us  a  design  to  nation- 
alize and  perpetuate  slavery,  will  waive  minor  differences  on 
questions  which  either  belong  to  the  dead  past  or  the  distant 
future,  and  all  pull  together  in  this  struggle.  What  are  your 
sentiments?  If  it  be  true  that  on  the  ground  which  I  occupy  — 
ground  which  I  occupy  as  frankly  and  boldly  as  Judge  Douglas 
does  his  —  my  views,  though  partly  coinciding  with  yours,  are 
not  as  perfectly  in  accordance  with  your  feelings  as  his  are,  I  do 
say  to  you  in  all  candor,  go  for  him  and  not  for  me.  I  hope  to 
deal  in  all  things  fairly  with  Judge  Douglas,  and  with  the  people 
of  the  State,  in  this  contest.  And  if  I  should  never  be  elected  to 
any  office,  I  trust  I  may  go  down  with  no  stain  of  falsehood  upon 
my  reputation. 


Some  positive,  persisting  fops  we  know 
Who,  if  once  wrong,  will  need  'be  always  so; 
But  you  with  pleasure  own  your  errors  past, 
And  make  each  day  a  critique  on  the  last. 

— Pope. 


247 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  27 

Is  there  not  a  cause?     I.  Samuel  17:29. 


Eifee  CaugfiS  pro&ucf  Eite  CEffrctg. 


(From  a  speech  in  third  joint  debate  with  Mr.  Douglas  at 
Jonesboro,   Illinois,   September   15,   1858.) 

Have  we  ever  had  any  quarrels  over  the  fact  they  have  laws  in 
Louisiana  designed  to  regulate  the  commerce  that  springs  from 
the  production  of  sugar?  or  because  we  have  a  different  class 
relative  to  the  production  of  fine  flour  in  this  State?  Have  they 
produced  any  differences?  Not  at  all.  They  are  the  very  cements 
of  this  Union.  They  don't  make  the  house  a  house  divided 
against  itself.  They  are  the  props  that  hold  up  the  house  and 
sustain  the  Union.  But  has  it  been  so  with  the  element  of 
slavery?  Have  we  not  always  had  quarrels  and  difficulties  over 
it?  And  when  will  we  cease  to  have  quarrels  over  it?  Like 
causes  produce  like  effects.  It  is  worth  while  to  observe  that  we 
have  generally  had  comparative  peace  upon  the  slavery  question, 
and  that  there  has  been  no  cause  for  alarm  until  it  was  excited 
by  the  effort  to  spread  it  into  new  territory.  Whenever  it  has 
been  limited  to  its  present  bounds,  and  there  has  been  no  effort 
to  spread  it,  there  has  been  peace. 


O    Opportunity!   thy  guilt  is  great: 

'T  is  thou  that  execut'st  the  traitor's  treason; 

Thou  sett'st  the  wolf  where  he  the  lamb  may  get ; 
Whoever  plots  the  sin,  thou  point'st  the  season; 
'T  is  thou  that  spurn'st  at  right,  at  law,  at  reason. 

— Shakespeare. 


248 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  28 

Thy  people  are  become  a  reproach  to  all  that  are  about  us.    Daniel  9 : 16. 


gour  Eac*  buttering  a  d5reat  Sfllrong. 

(Extract    from    an    address    to    free    colored    people,    on 
Colonization,   August  14,   1862.) 

Perhaps  you  have  long  been  free,  or  all  your  lives.  Your  race 
is  suffering,  in  my  judgment,  the  greatest  wrong  inflicted  on  any 
people.  But  even  when  you  cease  to  he  slaves,  you  are  yet  far  re- 
moved from  being  placed  on  an  equality  with  the  white  race.  You 
are  cut  off  from  many  of  the  advantages  which  the  other  race  en- 
joys. The  aspiration  of  men  is  to  enjoy  equality  with  the  best 
when  free,  but  on  this  broad  continent  not  a  single  man  of  your 
race  is  made  the  equal  of  a  single  man  of  ours.  Go  where  you 
are  treated  the  best,  and  the  ban  is  still  upon  you.  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  discuss  this,  but  to  present  it  as  a  fact  with  which  we 
have  to  deal.  I  cannot  alter  it  if  I  would.  .  .  .  Owing  to  the 
existence  of  the  two  races  on  this  continent,  I  need  not  recount 
to  you  the  effects  upon  white  men  growing  out  of  the  institution  of 
slavery.  I  believe  in  its  general  evil  effects  upon  the  white  race. 
See  our  present  condition — the  country  engaged  in  war;  our 
white  men  cutting  each  other's  throats;  none  knowing  how  far 
it  will  extend — and  then  consider  what  we  know  to  be  the  truth. 
But  for  your  race  among  us  there  could  be  no  war. 


In  this  icorld  of  sin  and  sorrow 

There  are  burdens  we  must  bear, 
There  are   conflicts  and  sore  trials 

That  we  must  dally  share. 
There  's  a  tempter  to  be  baffled, 

There  are  wrongs  to  be  made  right; 
There  are  stubborn  hearts  to  conquer, 

There  are  foes  to  be  put  to  flight. 

— A,   B.   OondQ, 


249 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  29 

Arise,  and  let  us  go  again  to  our  own  people,  and  to  the  land  of  our 
nativity.     Jeremiah  46  : 16. 


Better  to  be  Separated. 

(Extract  from  an  address  to  free  colored  people  on  Colo- 
nization, August  14,  1862.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

It  is  better  for  us  both,  therefore,  to  be  separated.  I  know  that 
there  are  free  men  among  you  who,  even  if  they  could  better  their 
condition,  are  not  as  much  inclined  to  go  out  of  the  country  as 
those  who,  being  slaves,  could  obtain  their  freedom  on  this  con- 
dition. .  .  .  But  you  ought  to  do  something  to  help  those  who  are 
not  so  fortunate  as  yourselves.  There  is  an  unwillingness  on  the 
part  of  our  people,  harsh  as  it  may  be,  for  you  free  colored  people 
to  remain  with  us.  Now,  if  you  could  give  a  start  to  the  white 
people  you  would  open  a  wide  door  for  many  to  be  made  free.  If 
we  deal  with  those  who  are  not  free  at  the  beginning,  and  whose 
intellects  are  clouded  by  slavery,  we  have  very  poor  material  to 
start  with.  If  intelligent  colored  men,  such  as  are  before  me, 
would  move  in  this  matter,  much  might  be  accomplished.  It  is 
exceedingly  important  that  we  have  men  at  the  beginning  capa- 
ble of  thinking  as  white  men,  and  not  those  who  have  been  syste- 
matically oppressed.  There  is  much  to  encourage — YOU.  For  the 
sake  of  your  race  you  should  sacrifice  something  of  your  present 
comfort  for  the  purpose  of  being  as  grand  in  that  respect  as  the 
white  people. 


Think  not  too  meanly  of  thy  low  estate; 
Thou  hast  a  choice;  to  choose  is  to  create! 
Remember  whose  the  sacred  lips  that  tell, 
Angels  approve  thee  when  thy  choice  is  well; 
Use  well  the  freedom  which  thy  Master  gave. 

— Holmes. 


250 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  30 

They  have  taken  crafty  counsel  against   thy  people.     Psalms  83 :  3. 


attachment  ^otoarto  flDur  IfiUce. 

(Extract   from  address  to  free  colored  people  on  Coloni- 
zation, August  14,  1862.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

The  colony  of  Liberia  has  been  in  existence  a  long  time.  In  a 
certain  sense  it  is  a  success.  The  old  president  of  Liberia,  Rob- 
erts, has  just  been  with  me;  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  him.  He 
says  they  have  within  the  bounds  of  that  colony  between  three 
and  four  hundred  thousand  people,  or  more  than  in  some  of  our 
old  States,  such  as  Rhode  Island  or  Delaware,  or  in  some  of  our 
newer  States,  and  less  than  in  some  of  our  larger  ones.  They  are 
not  all  American  colonists  or  their  descendants.  Something  less 
than  12,000  have  been  sent  thither  from  this  country.  ...  I  do 
not  know  how  much  attachment  you  may  have  toward  our  race. 
It  does  not  strike  me  that  you  have  the  greatest  reason  to  love 
them;  but  still  you  are  attached  to  them,  at  all  events.  The 
place  I  am  thinking  about  having  for  a  colony  is  in  Central  Amer- 
ica. It  is  nearer  to  us  than  Liberia.  Unlike  Liberia,  it  is  a  great 
line  of  travel,  it  is  a  highway.  The  country  is  a  very  excellent 
one  for  any  people,  and  with  great  natural  resources  and  advan- 
tages, and  especially  because  of  the  similarity  of  climate  with 
your  native  soil,  thus  being  suited  to  your  physical  condition. 


Abused  mortals!    did  you   know 

Where  joy,  heart's-case,  and  comforts  grow? 

You  'd  scorn  proud  towers, 

And  seek  them  in  these  bowers, 

Where  winds  sometimes  our  words  may  shake, 

But  blustering  care  could  never  tempests  make, 

Nor  murmurs  e'er  come  nigh  us 

Saving  of  fountains  that  glide  by  us. 

— Sir  W.   Raleigh. 


251 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


AUGUST  31 

That  they  may  see,  and  know,  and  consider,  and  understand  together. 
Isaiah  41:20. 


of  (Breat  importance. 


(Extract  from  address  to  free  colored  people  on  Coloni- 
zation, August  14,  1862.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

The  practical  thing  I  want  to  ascertain  is,  whether  I  can  get  a 
number  of  able-bodied  men,  with  their  wives  and  children,  who 
are  willing  to  go,  when  I  present  evidence,  encouragement,  and 
protection.  Could  I  get  a  hundred  tolerably  intelligent  men,  with 
their  wives  and  children,  and  able  to  "cut  their  own  fodder,"  so 
to  speak?  Can  I  get  fifty?  If  I  could  find  twenty-five  able-bodied 
men,  with  a  mixture  of  women  and  children  —  good  things  in  the 
family  relation,  I  think  —  I  could  make  a  successful  commence- 
ment. I  want  you  to  let  me  know  whether  it  can  be  done  or  not. 
This,  is  the  practical  part  of  my  wish  to  see  you.  These  are  sub- 
jects of  very  great  importance,  worthy  of  a  month's  study,  of  a 
speech  delivered  in  an  hour.  I  ask  you,  then,  to  consider  seriously, 
not  pertaining  to  yourselves  merely,  nor  for  your  race  and  ours 
for  the  present  time,  but  as  one  of  the  things,  if  successfully  man- 
aged, for  the  good  of  mankind,  not  confined  to  the  present  gen- 
eration, but  as 

"From  age  to  age  descends  the  lay, 

To  millions  yet  to  be, 
Till  far  its  echoes  roll  away 

Into  eternity." 


Brave  thoughts  of  noble  deeds,  and  glory  toon 
Like  angels,  beckon  ye  to  venture  on. 

— Frances  Kemble  Butler. 


352 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  1 

Thou  hast  given  a  banner  to  them  that  fear  thee,  that  It  may  be  dis- 
played because  of  the  truth.     Psalms  60 :  4. 


Onion  anH  t&e  £DI& 


(Extract  from  speech  to  soldiers  of  the  148th  Ohio  Regi- 
ment, August  31,  1864.) 

I  understand  that  it  has  been  your  honorable  privilege  to  stand 
for  a  brief  period  in  the  defense  of  your  country,  and  that  now 
you  are  on  your  way  to  your  homes.  I  congratulate  you,  and 
those  who  are  waiting  to  bid  you  welcome  home  from  the  war, 
and  permit  me  in  the  name  of  the  people  to  thank  you  for  the 
part  you  have  taken  in  this  struggle  for  the  life  of  the  Nation. 
Whenever  I  appear  before  a  body  of  soldiers,  I  feel  tempted  to 
talk  to  them  of  the  nature  of  the  struggle  in  which  we  are  en- 
gaged. I  look  upon  it  as  an  attempt  on  the  one  hand  to  over- 
whelm and  destroy  the  National  existence,  while  on  our  part  we 
are  striving  to  maintain  the  Government  and  institutions  of  our 
fathers,  to  ejoy  them  ourselves,  and  transmit  them  to  our  chil- 
dren and  our  children's  children  forever.  .  .  .  This  Government 
must  be  preserved,  in  spite  of  the  acts  of  any  man  or  set  of  men. 
It  is  worthy  of  your  every  effort.  Nowhere  in  the  world  is  pre- 
sented a  government  of  so  much  liberty  and  equality.  To  the 
humblest  and  poorest  amongst  us  are  held  out  the  highest  privi- 
leges and  positions.  The  present  moment  finds  me  at  the  White 
House,  yet  there  is  as  good  a  chance  for  your  children  as  there 
was  for  my  father's.  I  admonish  you  not  to  be  turned  from  your 
stern  purpose  of  defending  our  beloved  country  and  its  free  insti- 
tutions by  any  arguments  urged  by  ambitious  and  designing  men, 
but  stand  fast  to  the  Union  and  the  old  flag. 


Thus  beneath  the  one  broad  banner, 
Flag  of  the  true,  the  brave,  the  free, 

We  vyill  build  anew  the  Union, 
Fortress  of  our  liberty. 

— Anonymous. 

253 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  2 

And  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  that  day  when   I 
make  up  my  jewels.     Malachl  3  :  17. 


&n  Inestimable 

(To  an  Ohio  Regiment,  in  September,  1864.) 

It  is  not  merely  for  the  day,  but  for  all  time  to  come  that  we 
should  perpetuate  for  our  children's  children  that  great  and  free 
Government  which  we  have  enjoyed  all  our  lives.  I  beg  you  to 
remember  this,  not  merely  for  my  sake,  but  for  yours.  I  happen, 
temporarily,  to  occupy  this  big  White  House.  I  am  a  living  wit- 
ness that  any  one  of  your  children  may  look  to  come  here  as  my 
father's  child  has.  It  is  in  order  that  each  one  of  you  may  have, 
through  this  free  Government  which  we  have  enjoyed,  an  open 
field  and  a  fair  chance  for  your  industry,  enterprise,  and  intelli- 
gence; that  you  may  all  have  equal  privileges  in  the  race  of  life, 
with  all  its  desirable  human  aspirations — it  is  for  this  that  the 
struggle  should  be  maintained,  that  we  may  not  lose  our  birth 
rights,  not  only  for  one,  but  for  two  or  three  years,  if  necessary. 
The  nation  is  worth  fighting  for  to  secure  such  an  inestimable 
jewel. 


From  germs   like  these  have  mighty  statesmen   sprung, 
Of  prudent  counsel  and  persuasive  tongue; 
Unblenching  minds,  who  ruled  the  willing  throng, 
Their  well-braced  nerves  by  early  labor  strung. 

— Mrs.   Sigourney. 


254 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  3 

O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord ;   call   upon  his  name ;   make  known  his 
deeds  among  the  people.     Psalms  105  :  1. 


(glorious  &cf)iebenunl0, 

(Call  for  Thanksgiving,  issued  September  3,  1864.) 

The  signal  success  that  Divine  Providence  has  recently  vouch- 
safed to  the  operations  of  the  United  States  army  and  navy  in  the 
harbor  of  Mobile,  and  the  reduction  of  Forts  Powell,  Gaines,  and 
Morgan,  and  the  glorious  achievements  of  the  army  under  Major- 
General  Sherman  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  resulting  in  the  capture 
of  the  city  of  Atlanta,  call  for  devout  acknowledgements  to  the 
Supreme  Being  in  whose  hands  are  the  destinies  of  nations.  It 
is  therefore  requested  that  on  next  Sunday,  in  all  places  of  public 
worship  in  the  United  States,  thanksgiving  be  offered  to  Him  for 
his  mercy  in  preserving  our  National  existence  against  the  insur- 
gent rebels  who  so  long  have  been  waging  a  cruel  war  against  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  for  its  overthrow,  and  also  that 
prayers  be  made  for  the  Divine  protection  to  our  brave  soldiers 
and  their  gallant  leaders  in  the  field,  who  have  so  often  and  so 
gallantly  periled  their  lives  in  battling  with  the  enemy,  and  for 
blessings  and  comforts  from  the  Father  of  mercies  to  the  sick 
and  wounded  and  prisoners,  and  to  the  orphans  and  widows  of 
those  who  have  fallen  in  the  service  of  their  country,  and  that  he 
will  continue  to  uphold  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
against  all  the  efforts  of  public  enemies  and  secret  foes. 


Lord!  while  for  all  mankind  we  pray 

Of  every  clime  and  coast, 
Oh,  hear  us  for  our  native  land — 

The  land  we  love  the  most. 
Unite  us  in  the  sacred  love 

Of  knowledge,  truth,  and  thee, 
And  let  our  hills  and  valleys  shout 

The  songs  of  liberty. 

— J.  R.  Wreford. 


255 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  4 

Every  purpose  of  the  Lord  shall  be  performed.     Jeremiah  51 : 29. 


of 

(Letter  written  September  4,  1864,  to  Mrs.  Eliza  B.  Gur- 
ney,  wife  of  an  eminent  English  minister  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.) 

I  have  not  forgotten,  probably  never  shall  forget  the  very  im- 
pressive occasion  when  yourself  and  friends  visited  me  on  a  Sab- 
bath forenoon,  two  years  ago;  nor  has  your  kind  letter,  written 
nearly  a  year  later,  ever  been  forgotten.  In  all  it  has  been  your 
purpose  to  strengthen  my  reliance  upon  God.  I  am  much  indebted 
to  the  good  Christian  people  of  the  country  for  their  constant 
prayers  and  consolations,  and  to  no  one  of  them  more  than  to 
yourself.  The  purposes  of  the  Almighty  are  perfect  and  must  pre- 
vail, though  we  erring  mortals  may  fail  to  accurately  perceive 
them  in  advance.  We  hoped  for  a  happy  termination  of  this  ter- 
rible war  long  before  this,  but  God  knows  best  and  has  ruled 
otherwise.  We  shall  yet  acknowledge  his  wisdom  and  our  own 
errors  therein.  Meanwhile  we  must  work  earnestly  in  the  best 
light  he  gives  us,  trusting  that  so  working  still  conduces  to  the 
great  end  he  ordains.  Surely  he  intends  some  great  good  to  fol- 
low this  mighty  convulsion,  which  no  mortal  could  make  and  no 
mortal  could  stay.  Your  people,  the  Friends,  have  had  and  are 
having  very  great  trials  on  principles  and  faith.  Opposed  to  both 
war  and  oppression,  they  can  only  practically  oppose  oppression 
by  war.  In  this  hard  dilemma  some  have  chosen  one  horn  and 
some  the  other.  For  those  appealing  to  me  on  conscientious 
grounds,  I  have  done  and  shall  do  the  best  I  could  and  can,  in 
my  own  conscience,  under  my  oath  to  the  law.  That  you  believe 
this  I  doubt  not,  and,  believing  it,  I  shall  still  receive  for  our 
country  and  myself  your  earnest  prayers  to  our  Father  in  heaven. 


His  purposes  will  ripen  fast, 

Unfolding  every  hour; 
The  i>ud  man  hare  a  bitter  taste, 
But  sweet  will  be  the  flotcer. 

— Coicper. 
256 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  5  (Labor  Day) 

The  sleep  of  the  labouring  man  is  sweet,    .    .    .    but  the  abundance  of 
the  rich  will  not  suffer  him  to  sleep.     Ecclesiastes  5:12. 


Ea&or  iss  tfje  Superior  of  Capital. 

(From  his  first  annual  message  to  Congress,  December  3, 
1861.) 

Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital;  capital  is  only  the 
fruit  of  labor,  and  could  never  have  existed  if  labor  had  not  first 
existed.  Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital,  and  deserves  much  the 
higher  consideration.  Capital  has  its  rights,  which  are  as  worthy 
of  protection  as  any  other  rights;  nor  is  it  denied  that  there  is, 
and  probably  always  will  be  a  relation  between  labor  and  capital 
producing  mutual  benefits. 


A  song  for  the  builders  of  beauty, 

The  rearers  of  temple  and  spire; 
A  song  to  the  strong  men  of  duty, 

Who  shape  the  world's  future  in  flre. 

Sing,  sing  to  the  women,  the  mothers, 

The  weavers  of  life  and  of  fate; 
The  sisters  who  toil  for  the  brothers, 

And  open  to  hope  the  white  gate. 

A  song  to  the  brain  that  devises, 
And  bend's  Nature's  will  into  law; 

A  song  to  the  brain  that  suffices 
Its  purpose  from  many  to  draw. 

King,  sing,  to  the  thinkers  and  hewers — 
To  brothers  of  brain  and  of  brawn; 

A  song  to  the  world's  mighty  doers 
Who  work  for  a  hastening  dawn. 

— Horace  Spencer  Fiske. 


257 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  6 

Their  land  also  is  full  of  silver  and  gold,  neither  is  there  any  end  of 
their  treasures.     Isaiah  2  :  7. 


to  tfie 

(To  Honorable  Schuyler  Coif  ax,  on  the  fatal  14th  of  April, 
1865,  the  day  of  the  assassination.  Mr.  Colfax  was  about 
starting  to  the  far-off  western  country.) 

Mr.  Colfax,  I  want  you  to  take  a  message  from  me  to  the  miners 
whom  you  visit.  I  have  very  large  ideas  of  the  mineral  wealth  of 
our  Nation.  I  believe  it  practically  inexhaustible.  It  abounds  all 
over  the  Western  country — from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the 
Pacific,  and  its  developement  has  scarcely  commenced.  During 
the  war,  when  we  were  adding  a  couple  of  millions  of  dollars 
every  day  to  our  National  debt,  I  did  not  care  about  encouraging 
the  increase  in  the  volume  of  our  precious  metals.  We  had  the 
country  to  save  first.  But  now  that  the  Rebellion  is  overthrown, 
and  we  know  pretty  nearly  the  amount  of  our  National  debt,  the 
more  gold  and  silver  we  mine  makes  the  payment  of  that  debt 
so  much  the  easier.  Now  I  am  going  to  encourage  that  in  every 
possible  way.  We  shall  have  hundreds  of  thousands  of  disbanded 
soldiers,  and  many  have  feared  that  their  return  home  in  such 
great  numbers  might  paralyze  industry  by  furnishing  suddenly 
a  greater  supply  of  labor  than  there  will  be  a  demand  for.  I  am 
going  to  try  to  attract  them  to  the  hidden  wealth  of  our  moun- 
tain ranges,  where  there  is  room  enough  for  all.  .  .  .  Tell  the 
miners  for  me  that  I  shall  promote  their  interests  to  the  utmost 
of  my  ability,  because  their  prosperity  is  the  prosperity  of  the 
Nation;  and  we  shall  prove,  in  a  very  few  years,  that  we  are 
indeed  the  treasury  of  the  world. 


The  mountain  air  is  cool  and  fresh, 

Unclouded   skies    bend   o'er  us, 
Broad  placers,  rich  in  hidden   gold, 

Lie  temptingly  before  us; 
We  ask  no  magic  Midas'  wand, 

Nor  wizard-rod  divining, 
The  pickaxe,  spade,  and  brawny  hand 

Are  sorcerers  in  mining. 

— John  Swift. 

258 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  7 

It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons,  which  the  Father 
hath  put  in  his  own  power.    Acts  1 :  7. 


Jt  CCiill  €>ccur  in  C5o&'0  jSDton  C5ood 

(Extract    from    speech    in   fourth    joint   debate   with    Mr. 
Douglas  at  Charleston,  Illinois,  September  18,  1858.) 

I  say,  then,  there  is  no  way  of  putting  an  end  to  the  slavery 
agitation  amongst  us  but  to  put  it  back  upon  the  basis  where  our 
fathers  placed  it,  no  way  but  to  keep  it  out  of  our  new  Territories 
— to  restrict  it  forever  to  the  old  States  where  it  now  exists. 
Then  the  public  mind  will  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction.  That  is  one  way  of  putting  an  end 
to  the  slavery  agitation.  The  other  way  is  for  us  to  surrender 
and  let  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends  have  their  way  and  plant 
slavery  all  over  the  States — cease  speaking  of  it  as  in  any  way  a 
wrong — regard  slavery  as  one  of  the  common  matters  of  prop- 
erty, and  speak  of  negroes  as  we  do  of  our  horses  and  cattle.  But 
while  it  drives  on  in  its  state  of  progress  as  it  is  now  driving, 
and  as  it  has  driven  for  the  last  five  years,  I  have  ventured  the 
opinion,  and  I  say  to-day  that  we  will  have  no  end  to  the  slavery 
agitation  until  it  takes  one  turn  or  the  other.  I  do  not  mean  that 
when  it  takes  a  turn  toward  ultimate  extinction  it  will  be  in  a 
day,  nor  in  a  year,  nor  in  two  years.  I  do  not  suppose  that  in  the 
most  peaceful  way  ultimate  extinction  would  occur  in  less  than  a 
hundred  years  at  least;  but  that  it  will  occur  in  the  best  way  for 
both  races,  in  God's  own  good  time,  I  have  no  doubt. 


F'vr  right  is  right,  since  God  is  God, 

And  right  the  day  must  win; 
To  doubt  would  ~be  disloyalty, 

To  falter  would  be  sin. 

— F.  W.  Faber. 


259 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  8 

There  Is  an  evil  which  I  have  seen  under  the  sun,  and  It  is  common 
among  men.     Ecclesiastes  6  : 1. 


&t)0ttact  S^oral  Question, 

(Extract  from  speech  In  fifth  joint  debate  with  Mr.  Doug- 
las, at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  October  7,  1858.) 

I  have  said  that  in  their  right  to  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,"  as  proclaimed  in  that  old  Declaration,  the  inferior 
races  are  our  equals.  And  these  declarations  I  have  constantly 
made  in  reference  to  the  abstract  moral  question,  to  contemplate 
and  consider  when  we  are  legislating  about  any  new  country 
which  is  not  already  cursed  with  the  actual  presence  of  the  evil — 
slavery.  I  have  never  manifested  any  impatience  with  the  neces- 
sities that  spring  from  the  black  people  amongst  us,  and  the  actual 
existence  of  slavery  amongst  us  where  it  does  already  exist;  but 
I  have  insisted  that,  in  legislating  for  new  countries,  where  it 
does  not  exist,  there  is  no  just  rule  other  than  that  of  moral  and 
abstract  right!  With  reference  to  those  new  countries,  those 
maxims  as  to  the  right  of  a  people  to  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,"  were  the  just  rules  to  be  constantly  referred 
to.  There  is  no  misunderstanding  this,  except  by  men  interested 
to  misunderstand  it.  I  take  it  that  I  have  to  address  an  intelli- 
gent and  reading  community,  who  will  peruse  what  I  say,  weigh 
it,  and  then  judge  whether  I  advance  improper  or  unsound  views, 
or  whether  I  advance  hypocritical  and  deceptive  and  contrary 
views  in  different  portions  of  the  country.  I  believe  myself  to  be 
guilty  of  no  such  things  as  the  latter,  though,  of  course,  I  cannot 
claim  that  I  am  entirely  free  from  all  error  in  the  opinions  I 
advance. 


Prayer-strengthened  for  the  trial,  come  together, 

Put  on  the  harness  for  the  moral  fight, 
And  with  the  blessings  of  your  Heavenly  Father, 
Maintain   the  Right. 

— Whit  tier. 
260 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  9 

Wherefore  commit  ye  this  great  evil  against  your  souls?    Jeremiah  44  :  7. 


&  S^oral,  feudal,  and  Political 

(Extract  from  speech  in  fifth  joint  debate  with  Mr.  Doug- 
las at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  October  7,  1858.  Continued  from 
preceding  page.) 

From  this  difference  of  sentiment — the  belief  on  the  part  of 
one  that  the  institution  is  wrong,  and  a  policy  springing  from 
that  belief  which  looks  to  the  arrest  of  the  enlargement  of  that 
wrong;  and  this  other  sentiment,  that  it  is  no  wrong,  and  a  policy 
sprung  from  that  sentiment  which  will  tolerate  no  idea  of  pre- 
venting that  wrong  from  growing  larger,  and  looks  to  there  never 
being  an  end  of  it  through  all  the  existence  of  things — arises  the 
real  difference  between  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  Republicans  on  the  other.  Now,  I  confess  myself 
as  belonging  to  that  class  in  the  country  who  contemplate  slavery 
as  a  moral,  social,  and  political  evil,  having  due  regard  for  its 
actual  presence  amongst  us  and  the  difficulties  of  getting  rid  of  it 
in  any  satisfactory  way,  and  to  all  the  Constitutional  obligations 
which  have  been  thrown  about  it,  but  nevertheless,  desire  a 
policy  that  looks  to  the  prevention  of  it  as  a  wrong,  and  look 
hopefully  to  the  time  when  as  a  wrong  it  may  come  to  an  end. 


Oh!  speed  the  moment  on 

When  Wrong  shall  cease — and  Liberty  and  Love, 
And  Truth  and  Right,  throughout  the  earth  be  known 

As  in  their  home  above. 

— Whittier. 


261 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  10 

Let  us  play  the  men  for  our  people.     II.  Samuel  10  :  12. 


of  a  2Drama. 

(Extracts    from    speech    In    sixth    joint    debate    with    Mr. 
Douglas,  at  Quincy,  Illinois,  October  13,  1858.) 

He  reminds  me  of  the  fact  that  he  entered  upon  this  canvass 
with  the  purpose  to  treat  me  courteously;  that  touched  me  some- 
what. It  sets  me  to  thinking.  I  was  aware,  when  it  was  first 
agreed  that  Judge  Douglas  and  I  were  to  have  these  seven  joint 
discussions  that  they  were  the  successive  acts  of  a  drama — per- 
haps I  should  say,  to  be  enacted  not  merely  in  the  face  of  audi- 
ences like  this,  but  in  the  face  of  the  Nation,  and,  to  some  extent, 
be  my  relation  to  him,  and  not  from  anything  in  myself,  in  the 
face  of  the  world;  and  I  am  anxious  that  they  should  be  con- 
ducted with  dignity  and  in  the  good  temper  which  would  be 
befitting  the  vast  audience  before  which  it  was  conducted. 


All   the  world   's   a  stage, 
And  all  the  men  and  women  merely  players: 
They  have  their  exits  and  their  entrances, 
And  one  man  in  his  time  plays  many  parts, 
His  acts  being  seven  ages. 

— Shakespeare. 


262 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  11 

Perilous    times   shall    come.      II.    Timothy    3 :  1. 


Si  SDanfferoug  (Clement. 


(From  a  speech  in  the  sixth  joint  debate  with  Mr.  Doug- 
las, at  Quincy,  Illinois,  October  13,  1858.  Continued  from 
preceding  page.) 

We  have  in  this  Nation  this  element  of  domestic  slavery.  It  is 
a  matter  of  absolute  certainty  that  it  is  a  disturbing  element.  It 
is  the  opinion  of  all  the  great  men  who  have  expressed  an  opinion 
upon  it,  that  it  is  a  dangerous  element.  We  keep  up  a  contro- 
versy in  regard  to  it.  The  controversy  necessarily  springs  from 
differences  of  opinion,  and  if  we  can  learn  exactly  —  can  reduce  to 
the  lowest  elements  —  what  that  difference  of  opinion  is,  we  per- 
haps shall  be  better  prepared  for  discussing  the  different  systems 
of  policy  that  we  would  propose  in  regard  to  the  disturbing  ele- 
ment. I  suggest  that  the  difference  of  opinion,  reduced  to  its  low- 
est terms,  is  no  other  than  the  difference  between  the  men  who 
think  slavery  is  a  wrong  and  those  who  do  not  think  it  wrong. 
The  Republican  party  think  it  wrong  —  we  think  it  is  a  moral,  a 
social",  and  a  political  wrong.  We  think  it  is  a  wrong  not  confin- 
ing itself  merely  to  the  persons  or  the  States  where  it  exists,  but 
that  it  is  a  wrong  in  its  tendency,  to  say  the  least,  that  extends 
itself  to  the  existence  of  the  whole  Nation.  Because  we  think  it 
wrong,  we  propose  a  course  of  policy  that  shall  deal  with  it  as  a 
wrong.  We  deal  with  it  as  any  other  wrong,  in  so  far  as  we  can 
prevent  it  growing  any  larger,  and  so  deal  with  it  that  in  the  run 
of  time  there  may  be  some  promise  of  an  end  to  it. 


And  what  is  this  splendor  that  dazzles  the  sight, 
Of  what  are  the  minion*  of  tyranny  proudf 

'T  is  a  gleam  but  that  deepens  the  horrors  of  night — 
'T  is  a  lightning  that  flashes  from  slavery's  cloud. 

— Anonymous. 


263 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  12 

Keep   thee    far   from    a  false  matter.      Exodus   23 :  7. 


Si  jFatee  &0gumptfon. 


(Extract  from  speech  in  sixth  joint  debate  with  Mr.  Doug- 
las, at  Quincy,  Illinois,  October  13,  1858.  Continued  from 
preceding  page.) 

Judge  Douglas  asks  of  you,  "Why  cannot  the  institution  of 
slavery,  or  rather,  why  cannot  the  Nation,  part  slave  and  part 
free,  continue  as  our  fathers  made  it,  forever?"  In  the  first  place, 
I  insist  that  our  fathers  did  not  make  this  Nation  half  slave  and 
half  free,  or  part  slave  and  part  free.  I  insist  that  they  found  the 
institution  of  slavery  existing  here.  They  did  not  make  it  so,  but 
they  left  it  so  because  they  knew  of  no  way  to  get  rid  of  it  at  that 
time.  When  Judge  Douglas  undertakes  to  say  that,  as  a  matter 
of  choice,  the  fathers  of  the  Government  made  this  Nation  part 
slave  and  part  free,  he  assumes  what  is  historically  a  fasehood. 
More  than  that:  when  the  fathers  of  the  Government  cut  off  the 
source  of  slavery  by  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  and  adopted 
a  system  of  restricting  it  from  the  new  Territories  where  it  had 
not  existed,  I  maintain  that  they  placed  it  where  they  understood, 
and  all  sensible  men  understood  it  was  —  in  the  course  of  ultimate 
extinction;  and  when  Judge  Douglas  asks  me  why  it  cannot  con- 
tinue as  our  fathers  made  it,  I  ask  him  why  he  and  his  friends 
cannot  let  it  remain  where  our  fathers  made  it. 


The  sages  say,  Dame  Truth  delights  to  dwell — 
Strange  mansion! — in  the  bottom  of  a  well. 
Questions  are,  then,  the  icindlass  and  the  rope 
That  pull  the  grave  old  gentlewoman  up. 

— Peter   Pindar. 


264 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  13 

Teach  me  to  do  thy  will ;  for  thou  art  my  God.     Psalms  143  :  10. 


(In  response  to  a  delegation  from  the  religious  denomina- 
tions of  Chicago,  presenting  a  memorial  for  the  Immediate 
issue  of  an  emancipation  proclamation,  September  13,  1862.) 

The  subject  presented  in  the  memorial  is  one  upon  which  I 
have  thought  much  for  weeks  past,  and  I  may  even  say  for 
months.  I  am  approached  by  the  most  opposite  opinions  and 
advice,  and  that  by  religous  men  who  are  equally  certain  that 
they  represent  the  Divine  will.  I  am  sure  that  either  the  one  or 
the  other  class  is  mistaken  in  that  belief,  and  perhaps,  in  some 
respects,  both.  I  hope  it  will  not  be  irreverent  for  me  to  say  that 
if  it  is  probable  that  God  would  reveal  his  will  to  others,  on  a 
point  so  connected  with  my  duty,  it  might  be  supposed  he  would 
reveal  it  directly  to  me;  for,  unless  I  am  more  deceived  in  myself 
than  I  often  am,  it  is  my  earnest  desire  to  know  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence in  this  matter,  and  if  I  can  learn  what  it  is,  I  will  do  it. 
These  are  not,  however,  the  days  of  miracles,  and  I  suppose  it 
will  be  granted  that  I  am  not  to  expect  a  direct  revelation.  I 
must  study  the  plain  physical  facts  of  the  case,  ascertain  what  is 
possible,  and  learn  what  appears  to  be  wise  and  right. 


But  at  last  we  learn  the  lesson 

That  God  knoweth  what  is  best; 
For  with  wisdom  cometh  patience, 

And  with  patience  cometh  rest. 
Yea,  a  golden  thread  is  shining 

Through  the  tangled  woof  of  fate; 
And  our  hearts  shall  thank  him  meekly 

That  he  taught  us  how  to  wait. 

— Armstrong. 


265 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  14 

To  every  thing  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to  every  purpose  under  the 
heaven.     Ecclesiastes  3  : 1. 


Sin  JJnoperatfbe  SDocument, 

(In  response  to  a  delegation  from  the  religious  denomina- 
tions of  Chicago,  presenting  a  memorial  for  the  immediate 
issue  of  an  emancipation  proclamation,  September  13,  1862. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

You  know  that  the  last  session  of  Congress  had  a  decided 
majority  of  anti-slavery  men,  yet  they  could  not  unite  on  this 
policy.  And  the  same  is  true  of  the  religious  people.  Why,  the 
rebel  soldiers  are  praying  with  a  good  deal  more  earnestness,  I 
fear,  than  our  own  troops,  and  expecting  God  to  favor  their  side. 
.  .  .  What  good  would  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  from  me 
do,  especially  as  we  are  now  situated?  I  do  not  want  to  issue  a 
document  that  the  whole  world  will  see  must  necessarily  be 
inoperative,  like  the  Pope's  bull  against  the  comet.  Would  my 
word  free  the  slaves  when  I  cannot  even  enforce  the  Constitution 
in  the  rebel  States?  Is  there  a  single  court  or  magistrate  or  indi- 
vidual that  would  be  influenced  by  it  there? 


Under  the  storm  and  the  cloud  to-day, 
And  to-day  the  hard  peril  and  pain — 

To-morrow  the  stone  shall  be  rolled  away, 
For  the  sunshine  shall  folloio  the  rain. 

Merciful  Father,  I  will  not  complain, 

I  know  that  the  sunshine  shall  follow  the  rain. 

— Joaquin  Miller. 


266 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  15 

Execute  ye  judgment  and  righteousness,  and  deliver  the  spoiled  out  of 
the  hand  of  the  oppressor.     Jeremiah  22  :  3. 


practical  Ofllat  99ra0ttrr . 

(In  response  to  a  delegation  from  the  religious  denomina- 
tions of  Chicago,  presenting  a  memorial  for  the  immediate 
issue  of  an  emancipation  proclamation,  September  13,  1862. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Understand,  I  raise  no  objections  against  it  on  legal  or  constitu- 
tional grounds,  for,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy, 
in  time  of  war  I  suppose  I  have  a  right  to  take  any  measure 
which  may  best  subdue  the  enemy;  nor  do  I  desire  objections  of 
a  moral  nature,  in  view  of  possible  consequences  of  insurrection 
and  massacre  at  the  South.  I  view  this  matter  as  a  practical  war 
measure,  to  be  decided  on  according  to  the  advantages  or  dis- 
advantages it  may  offer  to  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  I 
admit  that  slavery  is  at  the  root  of  the  rebellion,  or  at  least  its 
sine  qua  non.  The  ambition  of  politicians  may  have  instigated 
them  to  act,  but  they  would  have  been  impotent  without  slavery 
as  their  instrument. 


Lo !  a  cloud  's  about  to  vanish 

From  the  day; 
And  a  brazen  wrong  to  crumble 

Into   clay. 
Lo !  the  right  'a  about  to  conquer; 

Clear  the  way! 

With  the  Right  shall  many  more 
Enter  smiling  at  the  door; 
With  the  giant  Wrong  shall  fall 
Many    others,    great   and  small, 
That  for  ages  long  have  held  us 

For  their  prey. 
Men  of  thought  and  action, 

Clear   the  way! 

— Charles  Mackay. 


267 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  16 

Wherefore  be  ye  not  unwise,  but  understanding  what  the  will  of  the 
Lord  is.     Ephesians  5  : 17. 


a  Juntiamtntal  Itoea. 

(In  response  to  a  delegation  from  the  religious  denomina- 
tions of  Chicago,  presenting  a  memorial  for  the  immediate 
issue  of  an  emancipation  proclamation,  September  13,  1862. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Let  me  say  one  thing  more:  I  think  you  should  admit  that  we 
already  have  an  important  principle  to  rally  to  and  unite  the 
people;  in  fact,  that  Constitutional  government  is  at  stake.  This 
is  a  fundamental  idea  going  down  about  as  deep  as  anything.  Do 
not  misunderstand  me  because  I  have  mentioned  these  objections. 
They  indicate  the  difficulties  that  have  thus  far  prevented  my 
action  in  some  such  way  as  you  desire.  I  have  not  decided  against 
a  proclamation  of  liberty  to  the  slaves,  but  hold  the  matter  under 
advisement.  And  I  can  assure  you  that  the  subject  is  on  my 
mind,  by  day  and  night,  more  than  any  other.  Whatever  shall 
appear  to  be  God's  will  I  will  do.  I  trust  that  in  the  freedom  with 
which  I  have  canvassed  your  views  I  have  not  in  any  respect 
injured  your  feelings. 


There  is  a  spirit  working  in  the  world, 

Like  to  a  silent,  subterranean  fire, 
Yet  ever  and  anon  some  monarch  hurl'd, 

Aghast  and  pale,  attests  its  fearful  ire: 
The  dungeon'd  nations  now  once  more  respire 

The  keen  and  stirring  air  of   liberty. 

— George   Hill. 


268 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  17 

And  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly.     Mark  12  :  37. 


SDon't  &!joot  too 

(Advice  to  a  young  lawyer.) 

Billy,  don't  shoot  too  high — aim  lower  and  the  common  people 
will  understand  you.  They  are  the  ones  you  want  to  reach — at 
least,  they  are  the  ones  you  ought  to  reach.  The  educated  and 
refined  people  will  understand  you,  anyway.  If  you  aim  too  high 
your  idea  will  go  over  the  heads  of  the  masses  and  only  hit  those 
who  need  no  hitting. 


What  is  judicious  eloquence   to   those 

Whose  speech  not  up  to  others'  reason  grows, 

But  climbs  aloft  to  their  own  passion's  height  f 

And  as  our  seamen  make  no  use  of  sight 

By  anything  observed  in  wide,  strange  seas, 

But  only  of  the  length  of  voyages; 

Or  else,  as  men  in  races  make  no  stay 

To  draw  large  prospects  of  their  breath  away, 

So  they,  in  heedless  races  of  the  tongue, 

Care  not  how  broad  their  theme  is,  but  how  long. 

— Davenant. 


269 


SEPTEMBER  18 

Lift  up  thy  voice  with  strength  ;  lift  it  up,  be  not  afraid.    Isaiah  40 : 9. 


&&ooting  £Dbf  r  t&e  Hint. 

(Extract  from  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September 
17,  1859,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Douglas's  charge  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
desire  to  disturb  slavery  in  the  Southern  States  by  "shoot- 
ing over  the  line.") 

It  has  occurred  to  me  here  to-night  that  if  I  ever  do  shoot  over 
at  the  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  in  the  slave  States,  and 
purpose  to  do  so,  keeping  my  skin  safe,  that  I  have  now  about 
the  best  chance  I  shall  ever  have.  I  should  not  wonder  if  there 
are  some  Kentuckians  about  this  audience;  we  are  close  to  Ken- 
tucky; and  whether  that  be  so  or  not,  we  are  on  elevated  ground, 
and  by  speaking  distinctly  I  should  not  wonder  if  some  of  the 
Kentuckians  would  hear  me  on  the  other  side  of  the  river;  for 
that  reason  I  propose  to  address  a  portion  of  what  I  have  to  say 
to  the  Kentuckians.  I  say,  then,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Ken- 
tuckians, that  I  am  what  they  call,  as  I  understand  it,  a  "Black 
Republican."  I  think  that  slavery  is  wrong,  morally,  socially, 
and  politically.  I  desire  that  it  should  be  no  further  spread  in 
these  United  States,  and  I  should  not  object  if  it  would  gradually 
terminate  in  the  whole  Union.  While  I  say  this  for  myself,  I  say 
to  you,  Kentuckians,  that  I  understand  that  you  differ  radically 
with  me  upon  this  proposition;  that  you  believe  slavery  is  a  good 
thing;  that  slavery  is  right;  that  it  ought  to  be  extended  and  per- 
petuated in  this  Union. 


On  Ms  bold  visage,  middle  age 
Had  slightly  pressed  its  signet  sage, 
Yet  had  not  quenched  the  open  truth 
And  fiery  vehemence  of  youth: 
Forward   and   frolic   glee  was    there, 
The  will  to  do,  the  soul  to  dare. 

—Scott. 


270 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  19 

Then  will  we  give  our  daughters  unto  you,  and  we  will  take  your 
daughters  to  us,  and  we  will  dwell  with  you,  and  we  will  become  one 
people.  Genesis  34  : 16. 


flflle  3£ian  to  SDo. 

(Extract  from  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September 
17,  1859,  alluding  to  the  triumph  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  party 
Addressing  the  Kentuckians.  Continued  from  preceding 
page.) 

I  will  tell  you,  as  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the  oppo- 
sition, what  we  mean  to  do  with  you.  We  mean  to  treat  you,  as 
nearly  as  we  possibly  can,  as  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison 
treated  you.  We  mean  to  leave  you  alone,  and  in  no  way  to  inter- 
fere with  your  institution;  to  abide  by  all  and  every  compromise 
of  the  Constitution,  and,  in  a  word,  coming  back  to  the  original 
proposition,  to  treat  you,  so  far  as  degenerated  men  (if  we  have 
degenerated)  may,  imitating  the  example  of  those  noble  fathers — 
Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison.  We  mean  to  remember  that 
you  are  as  good  as  we  are;  that  there  is  no  difference  between  us 
other  than  the  difference  in  circumstances.  We  mean  to  recog- 
nize and  bear  in  mind  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your 
bosoms  as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim  to  have,  and  treat  you 
accordingly.  We  mean  to  marry  your  girls  when  we  have  a 
chance — the  white  ones,  I  mean — and  I  have  the  honor  to  inform 
you  that  I  once  did  get  a  chance  in  that  way. 


We  will  renew  the  times  of  truth  and  justice, 
Condensing   in  a  fair  free   commonwealth 
Not  rash  equality,  'but  equal  rights, 
Proportioned  like  the  columns  of  the  temple, 
Giving  and  taking  strength  reciprocal, 
And  making  firm  the  whole  with  grace  and  beauty, 
So  that  no  part  could  be  removed  without 
Infringement   of   the  general  symmetry. 

— Byron. 

271 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  20 

Say  ye  not,  A  confederacy,  to  all  them  to  whom  this  people  shall  say, 
A  confederacy.     Isaiah  8  :  12. 


2D0  gou  S^ean  to  2Do? 


(Extract  from  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September 
17,  1859.  Addressed  to  the  Kentuckians.  Continued  from 
preceding  page.) 

I  have  told  you  what  we  mean  to  do.  I  want  to  know,  now, 
when  that  thing  takes  place,  what  you  mean  to  do.  I  often  hear 
it  intimated  that  you  mean  to  divide  the  Union  whenever  a  Re- 
publican, or  anything  like  it,  is  elected  President  of  the  United 
States.  Well,  I  want  to  know  what  you  are  going  to  do  with  your 
half  of  it.  Are  you  going  to  split  the  Ohio  down  through,  and 
push  your  half  off  a  piece?  or  are  you  going  to  keep  it  right 
alongside  of  us  outrageous  fellows?  or  are  you  going  to  build  up 
a  wall  some  way  between  your  country  and  ours,  by  which  that 
movable  property  of  yours  can't  come  over  here  any  more,  and 
you  lose  it?  Do  you  think  you  can  better  yourselves  on  that  sub- 
ject by  leaving  us  here  under  no  obligation  whatever  to  return 
those  specimens  of  your  movable  property  that  come  hither? 


Southrons!   hear  your  country  call  you! 
Up!  lest  worse  than  death  befall  you! 

To  arms !    To  arms !    To  arms  in  Di&ie ! 
Lo !  all  the  'beacon-fires  are  lighted — 
Let  all  hearts  'be  now  united! 

To  arms!    To  arms!    To  arms  in  Dixie! 
Advance  the  flag  of  Dix-iel 

Hurrah !     hurrah  ! 

To  Dixie's   land  we   take  our  stand, 
And  live  or  die  for  Dixie! 

— General  Albert  Pike. 


272 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  21 

Do  nothing  rashly.     Acts  19  :  36. 


Sou  arc  inferior  in  Dumber*. 

(Extract  from  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Septpmber 
17,  1859.  Addressed  to  Kentuckians.  Continued  from  pre- 
ceding page.) 

You  have  divided  the  Union  because  we  would  not  do  right  with 
you,  as  you  think,  upon  that  subject;  when  we  cease  to  be  under 
obligations  to  do  anything  for  you,  how  much  better  off  do  you 
think  you  will  be?  Will  you  make  war  upon  us  and  kill  us  all? 
Why,  gentlemen,  I  think  you  are  as  gallant  and  as  brave  men  as 
live;  that  you  can  fight  as  bravely  in  a  good  cause,  man  for  man, 
as  any  other  people  living;  that  you  have  shown  yourselves 
capable  of  this  upon  various  occasions ;  but,  man  for  man,  you  are 
not  better  than  we  are,  and  there  are  not  so  many  of  you  as  there 
are  of  us.  You  will  never  make  much  of  a  hand  at  whipping  us. 
If  we  were  fewer  in  numbers  than  you,  I  think  that  you  could 
whip  us;  if  we  were  equal,  it  would  likely  be  a  drawn  battle;  but, 
being  inferior  in  numbers,  you  will  make  nothing  by  attempting 
to  master  us. 


To  broach  a  ivar,  and  not  to  be  assured 
Of  certain  means  to  make  a  fair  defense, 
Howe'er  the  ground  be  just,  may  justly  seem 
A   wilful  madness. 

— Hemmings. 


273 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  22 

Woe  unto  him  that  .  .  .  useth  his  neighbour's  service  without  wages. 
Jeremiah  22  :  13. 


(Extract   from   a  speech   at   Cincinnati,    Ohio,    September 
17,   1859.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

I  say  that  we  must  not  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery 
in  the  States  where  it  exists,  because  the  Constitution  forbids  it, 
and  the  general  welfare  does  not  require  us  to  do  so.  We  must 
not  withhold  an  efficient  fugitive  slave  law,  because  the  Constitu- 
tion requires  us,  as  I  understand  it,  not  to  withhold  such  a  law; 
but  we  must  prevent  the  outspreading  of  the  institution,  because 
neither  the  Constitution  nor  the  general  welfare  requires  us  to 
extend  it.  We  must  prevent  the  revival  of  the  African  slave-trade 
and  the  enacting  by  Congress  of  a  territorial  slave  code.  We 
must  prevent  each  of  these  things  being  done  by  either  Congress 
or  Courts.  The  people  of  these  United  States  are  the  rightful 
masters  of  both  Congress  and  Courts,  not  to  overthrow  the  Con- 
stitution, but  to  overthrow  the  men  who  pervert  the  Constitution. 


Oppression   shall   not   always   reign, 

There  comes  a  brighter  day, 
When   freedom,   burst    from    every  chain, 

Shall   have  triumphant  sway. 

— Ware. 


274 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  23 

I  determined  this  with  myself.     II.   Corinthians  2  : 1. 


3  $2a&e  Dettrmiiub  for 

(Part   of  the  remarks  at   a   Cabinet   meeting,    September 
22,  1862,  concerning  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.) 

Gentlemen,  I  have,  as  you  are  aware,  thought  a  great  deal  about 
the  relation  of  this  war  to  slavery,  and  you  all  remember  that 
several  weeks  ago  I  read  to  you  an  order  that  I  had  prepared 
upon  the  subject,  which,  on  account  of  objections  made  by  some 
of  you,  was  not  issued.  Ever  since  then  my  mind  has  been  much 
occupied  with  this  subject,  and  I  have  thought  all  along  that  the 
time  for  acting  upon  it  might  probably  come.  I  have  got  you 
together  to  hear  what  I  have  written  down.  I  do  not  wish  your 
advice  about  the  main  matter,  for  that  I  have  determined  for  my- 
self. This  I  say  without  intending  anything  but  respect  for  any 
one  of  you.  But  I  already  know  the  views  of  each  on  this  ques- 
tion. They  have  been  heretofore  expressed,  and  I  have  considered 
them  as  thoroughly  and  carefully  as  I  can.  What  I  have  written 
is  that  which  my  reflections  have  determined  me  to  say.  If  there 
is  anything  in  the  expressions  I  use,  or  in  any  minor  matter, 
which  any  one  of  you  thinks  had  best  be  changed,  I  shall  be  glad 
to  receive  your  suggestions. 


He  knows  the  compass,  sail,  and  oar, 
Or  never  launches  from  the  shore; 
Before  he  builds,  computes   the  cost, 
And-  in  no  proud  pursuit  is  lost. 

—Gay. 


275 


SEPTEMBER  24 

Let  every  man  prove  bis  own  work.     Galatians   6 : 4. 


2Do  t5*  B*0t  3  Can. 

(Remarks  at  Cabinet  meeting,  September  22,  1862,  con- 
cerning the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Continued  from 
preceding  page.) 

One  other  observation  I  will  make.  I  know  very  well  that 
many  others  might,  in  this  matter  as  in  others,  do  better  than  I 
can;  and  if  I  were  satisfied  that  the  public  confidence  was  more 
fully  possessed  by  any  one  of  them  than  by  me,  and  knew  of  any 
Constitutional  way  in  which  he  could  be  put  in  my  place,  he 
should  have  it.  I  would  gladly  yield  to  him.  But  though  I 
believe  I  have  not  so  much  of  the  confidence  of  the  people  as  I 
had  some  time  since,  I  do  not  know  that,  all  things  considered, 
any  other  person  has  more;  and,  however  this  may  be,  there  is  no 
way  in  which  I  can  have  any  other  man  put  where  I  am.  I  am 
here,  and  I  must  do  the  best  I  can,  and  bear  the  responsibility  of 
taking  the  course  which  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  take. 


Abraham,  spare  the  South, 

Touch  not  a  single  slave; 
Nor  e'en  by  word  of  mouth 

Disturb  the  thing  we  crave. 
'T  was   our  forefathers'  hand 

That   slavery   begot; 
There,  Abraham,  let  it  stand; 

Thine  acts  shall  harm  it  not. 

— Anonymous. 


276 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  25 

Done  right  'n  my  sight,  in  proclaiming  liberty  every  man  to  his  neigh- 
bour.    Jeremiah  34:15. 


and  jForefctr  jfm. 

(Extract    from    the    provisional    Emancipation    Proclama- 
tion,  issued   September  22,   1862.) 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand and  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves 
within  any  State  or  designated  part  of  a  State  the  people  whereof 
shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then, 
henceforward,  and  forever  free;  and  the  Executive  Government 
of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authority 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons, 
and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them, 
in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom.  The 
Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  procla- 
mation, designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which 
the  people  thereof,  respectively,  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States. 


Once  tattle  fires  for  independence  shone, 
The  rights  of  man  to  all  the  ivorld  made  known; 
Henceforth    a   Nation,   strong    thro'    liberty, 
In  tins  auspicious  hour,  long  live  America/ 
Thy  conscience  rose  'gainst  slav'ry  in  thy  States, 
Till  Lincoln  freed  the  black  man  in  thy  gates; 
Henceforth  the  friend  of  human  kind  to  be, 
Long   live,    long   live  America! 

Bishop    W.   M.    Bell. 


277 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  26 

He  was  a  faithful  man.     Nehemiah  7  :  2. 


of 

(Letter  to  Honorable  Montgomery  Blair,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, requesting  his  resignation  as  a  member  of  the  Cabinet, 
September  23,  1864.) 

You  have  generously  said  to  me,  more  than  once,  that  when- 
ever your  resignation  could  be  a  relief  to  me,  it  was  at  my  dis- 
posal. The  time  has  come.  You  very  well  know  that  this  pro- 
ceeds from  no  dissatisfaction  of  mine  with  you  personally  or 
officially.  Your  uniform  kindness  has  been  unsurpassed  by  that 
of  any  friend,  and  while  it  is  true  that  the  war  does  not  so  greatly 
add  to  the  difficulties  of  your  department  as  it  does  to  some 
others,  it  is  yet  much  to  say,  as  I  most  truly  can,  that  in  three 
years  and  a  half,  during  which  you  have  administered  the  General 
Post-Office,  I  remember  no  single  complaint  against  you  in  con- 
nection therewith. 


Friendship  is  the  cement  of  two  minds, 
As  of  one  mem  the  soul  and  body  is; 
Of  -which  one  cannot  sever  but  the  other 
Suffers  a  needful  separation. 

— Chapman. 


278 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  27 

The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord.     Psalms  37  :  23. 


&olnnn  &en0e  of 


(Extract  from  a  speech  at  a  serenade,  September  24,   1862.) 

I  have  not  been  distinctly  informed  why  it  is  on  this  occasion 
you  appear  to  do  me  this  honor,  though  I  suppose  it  is  because  of 
the  proclamation.  What  I  did,  I  did  after  very  full  deliberation 
and  under  a  very  heavy  and  solemn  sense  of  responsibility.  I  can 
only  trust  in  God  I  have  made  no  mistake.  I  shall  make  no 
attempt  on  this  occasion  to  sustain  what  I  have  done  or  said  by 
any  comment.  It  is  now  for  the  country  and  the  world  to  pass 
judgment  upon  it,  and,  may  be,  take  action  upon  it.  I  will  say  no 
more  upon  this  subject.  In  my  position  I  am  environed  with 
difficulties.  Yet  they  are  scarcely  so  great  as  the  difficulties  of 
those  who,  upon  the  battle-field,  are  endeavoring  to  purchase  with 
their  blood  and  their  lives  the  future  happiness  and  prosperity  of 
the  country.  Let  us  not  forget  them. 


Our  children  shall  behold  Ms  fame, 

The  kindly-earnest,  brave,  foreseeing  man, 

Sagacious,  patient,  dreading  praise,  not  blame, 
New  birth  of  our  new  soil,  the  first  American. 

— Lowell. 


379 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  28 

Relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for  the  widow.    Isaiah 
1  :  17. 


and 

(Letter  written  in  September,  1857,  to  Mrs.  Hannah  Arm- 
strong, whose  son  had  been  arrested  for  murder.) 

I  have  just  heard  of  your  deep  affliction,  and  the  arrest  of  your 
son  for  murder.  I  can  hardly  believe  that  he  is  guilty  of  the 
crime  alleged  against  him.  It  does  not  seem  possible.  I  am 
anxious  that  he  should  have  a  fair  trial,  at  any  rate;  and  grati- 
tude for  your  long-continued  kindness  to  me  in  adverse  circum- 
stances prompts  me  to  offer  my  humble  services  gratuitously  in 
his  behalf.  It  will  afford  me  an  opportunity  to  requite,  in  a  small 
degree,  the  favors  I  received  at  your  hand,  and  that  of  your 
lamented  husband,  when  your  roof  afforded  me  grateful  shelter, 
without  money  and  without  price. 


There  are  loyal  Hearts,  there  are  spirits  brave, 
There  are  souls   that  are  pure  and   true; 

Then  give  to  the  world  the  test  you  have, 
And  the  test  shall  come  back  to  you. 

Give  love,  and  love  to  your  heart  will  'flow, 

A  strength  in  your  utmost  need; 
Have  faith,  and  a  score  of  hearts  will  show 

Their  faith  in  your  word  and  deed. 

— Madeline  8.  Bridges. 


280 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  20 

He  reasoned   of    ...    temperance.     Acts  24  :  25. 


3  S^alie  temperance  &peec|je0. 

(In  response  to  an  address  from  the  Sons  of  Temperance 
in  Washington,  on  the  29th  of  September,  1863.) 

If  I  were  better  known  than  I  am,  you  would  not  need  to  be  told 
that  in  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  temperance  you  have  a  friend 
and  sympathizer  in  me.  When  a  young  man — long  ago — before 
the  Sons  of  Temperance,  as  an  organization,  had  an  existence,  I, 
in  a  humble  way,  made  temperance  speeches,  and  I  think  I  may 
say  that  to  this  day  I  have  never,  by  my  example,  belied  what  I 
then  said.  ...  I  think  the  reasonable  men  of  the  world  have 
long  since  agreed  that  intemperance  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  all 
evils  among  mankind.  That  the  disease  exists,  and  that  it  is  a 
very  great  one,  is  agreed  upon  by  all.  The  mode  of  cure  is  one 
about  which  there  may  be  differences  of  opinion. 


Plant  the  temperance  standard   firmly, 

Round  it  live,  and  round  it  die; 
Young  and  old  defend  it  sternly, 
Till  we  gain  the  victory, 

And  all  nations 
Hail  the  happy  jubilee. 

— Anonymous. 


281 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


SEPTEMBER  30 

I   remember  the  days  of  old.     Psalms  143  :  5. 


$®V  Cf)ttt>I)o0& 


(Selections  from  a  poem  written  when  he  was  thirty-five 
years  of  age,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  the  neighborhood 
of  his  old  Indiana  home  to  make  a  speech  In  behalf  of 
Henry  Clay,  in  1844.  The  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  verses 
are  omitted.) 

My  childhood  home  I  see  again, 

And  sadden  with  the  view; 
And  still,  as  memory  crowds  my  brain, 

There  's  pleasure  in  it,  too. 

0  Memory!   thou  midway  world 
'Twixt  earth  and  paradise, 

Where  things  decayed,  and  loved  ones  lost, 
In  dreamy  shadows  rise! 

Near  twenty  years  have  passed  away 

Since  here  I   bid   farewell 
To  woods  and  fields  and  scenes  of  play, 

And  playmates  loved  so  well. 

Where  many  were,  tut  -few  remain, 

Of  old  familiar  things; 
But  seeing  th^m  to  mind  again 

The  lost  and  absent  brings. 

The  friends  I  left  that  parting  day, 

How  changed,  as  time  has  sped! 
Young  childhood  grown,  strong  manhood  gray, 

And  half  of  all  are  dead. 

1  hear  the  loud  survivors  tell 

How  naught  from  death  could  save, 
Till  every  sound  appears  a  knell, 
And  every  spot  a  grave. 

I  range  the  fields  with  pensive  tread 

And  pace  the  hollow  rooms, 
And  feel  (companions  of  the  dead) 

I  'm  living  in  the  tombs. 


Still  o  'er  those  scenes  my  memory  wakes, 

And  fondly  broods  with  miser  care; 
Time  but  the  impression  deeper  makes 
As  streams  their  channels  deeper  wear. 

- — Burns. 
282 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  1 

Execute  true  judgment,  and  show  mercy.    Zechariah  7  :  9. 


Calmtu00,  Caution,  anD  jrorbcarcntf, 

(To  General  John  M.  Schofield,  October  1,  1863.) 

There  is  no  organized  military  force  in  avowed  opposition  to 
the  general  Government  now  in  Missouri;  and  if  any  shall  re- 
appear, your  duty  in  regard  to  it  will  be  too  plain  to  require 
any  special  instruction.  .  .  .  Under  your  recent  order,  which  I 
have  approved,  you  will  arrest  individuals  and  suppress  assem- 
blies or  newspapers  only  when  they  may  be  working  palpable 
injury  to  the  military  in  your  charge;  and  in  no  other  case  will 
you  interfere  with  the  expression  of  opinion  in  any  form  or  allow 
it  to  be  interfered  with  violently  by  others.  In  this  you  have  a 
discretion  to  exercise  with  great  caution,  calmness,  and  forbear- 
ance. ...  So  far  as  practicable,  you  will,  by  means  of  your  mili- 
tary force,  expel  guerrillas,  marauders,  and  murderers,  and  all 
who  are  known  to  harbor,  aid,  or  abet  them.  But  in  like  manner 
you  will  oppress  assumptions  of  unauthorized  individuals  to  per- 
form the  same  service,  because  under  pretense  of  doing  this  they 
become  marauders  and  murderers  themselves. 


Circumstances  must  make  it  probable 
Whether  the  cause's  justice  may  command 
Th'  attendance  of  success:  for  an  attempt 
That  's  warranted  by  justice  cannot  want 
A  prosperous  end.  — Nabb. 


283 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  2 

Be  ye  therefore  merciful,  as  your  Father  also  is  merciful.     Luke  6 :  36. 


and 

(To  Honorable  Schuyler  Coif  ax,  who  requested  the  respite 
of  a  son  of  a  constituent  who  was  sentenced  to  be  shot.) 

Some  of  our  generals  complain  that  I  impair  discipline  and 
subordination  in  the  army  by  my  pardons  and  respites,  but  it 
makes  me  rested,  after  a  hard  day's  work,  if  I  can  find  some  good 
excuse  for  saving  a  man's  life,  and  I  go  to  bed  happy  as  I  think 
how  joyous  the  signing  of  my  name  will  make  him  and  his  family 
and  his  friends. 

(On  another  occasion,  when  some  one  made  an  application 
for  pardon  for  a  deserter.) 

Did  you  say  he  was  once  badly  wounded?  Then,  as  the  Scrip- 
tures say  that  in  the  shedding  of  blood  is  the  remission  of  sins,  I 
guess  we  will  have  to  let  him  off  this  time. 


'T  is  well  known  that  while  I  was  protector, 
Pity  was  all  the  fault  that  was  in  me; 
For  I  should  melt  at  an  offender's  tears, 
And  lowly  words  were  ransom  for  their  fault. 

— Shakespeare. 


284 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  3 

Offer   unto   God   thanksgiving.     Psalms   50 : 14. 


of  ^anttggibmg  and 


(Part    of    Thanksgiving    Proclamation    issued    October    3, 
1863.) 

The  year  that  is  drawing  toward  its  close  has  been  filled  with 
the  blessings  of  fruitful  fields  and  healthful  skies.  To  these 
bounties,  which  are  so  constantly  enjoyed  that  we  are  prone  to 
forget  the  source  from  which  they  come,  others  have  been  added 
which  are  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature  that  they  cannot  fail  to 
penetrate  and  soften  even  the  heart  which  is  habitually  insen- 
sible to  the  ever  watchful  Providence  of  Almighty  God.  .  .  . 
No  human  council  hath  devised,  nor  hath  any  mortal  hand  worked 
out  these  great  things.  They  are  the  gracious  gifts  of  the  Most 
High  God,  who,  while  dealing  with  us  in  anger  for  our  sins,  hath 
nevertheless  remembered  mercy.  It  has  seemed  to  me  fit  and 
proper  that  they  should  be  solemnly,  reverently,  and  gratefully 
acknowledged,  as  with  one  heart  and  voice,  by  the  whole  Amer- 
ican people.  I  do  therefore  invite  my  fellow-citizens  in  every  part 
of  the  United  States,  and  also  those  who  are  at  sea,  and  those 
who  are  sojourning  in  foreign  lands,  to  set  apart  and  observe  the 
last  Thursday  of  November  next  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and 
prayer  to  our  beneficent  Father,  who  dwelleth  in  the  heavens. 


O    Father  Almighty, 

Our  trust  is  in  thee, 
Thy  will  now  exalting 

Through  love,  law,  and  liberty, 
Our  voices  ascending 

From  vale,  hill,  and  crag, 
In  this  motto   blending: 

"One  country,  one  speech,  one  flag." 

— Silas  O.  Pratt. 


285 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  4 

They    .    .    .    went  backward,  and  not  forward.     Jeremiah  7 : 24. 


Si  Eettogtati*  Institution. 

(Reply  to   Stephen  A.   Douglas,   on   the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill,  Springfield,  Illinois,  October  4,  1854.) 

Be  not  deceived.  The  spirit  of  the  Revolution  and  the  spirit  of 
Nebraska  are  antipodes,  and  the  former  is  being  rapidly  dis- 
placed by  the  latter.  Shall  we  make  no  effort  to  arrest  this? 
Already  the  liberal  party  throughout  the  world  expresses  the 
apprehension  "that  the  one  retrograde  institution  in  America  is 
undermining  the  principles  of  progress  and  fatally  violating  the 
noblest  political  system  the  world  ever  saw."  This  is  not  the 
taunt  of  enemies,  but  the  warning  of  friends.  Is  it  quite  safe  to 
disregard  it,  to  disparage  it?  Is  there  no  danger  to  liberty  itself 
in  discarding  the  earliest  practice  and  first  precept  of  our  ancient 
faith?  In  our  greedy  haste  to  make  profit  of  the  negro,  let  us 
beware  lest  we  cancel  and  rend  in  pieces  even  the  white  man's 
character  of  freedom.  My  distinguished  friend  Douglas  says  it  is 
an  insult  to  the  emigrants  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  suppose 
that  they  are  not  capable  of  governing  themselves.  We  must  not 
slur  over  an  argument  of  this  kind  because  it  happens  to  tickle 
the  ear.  It  must  be  met  and  answered.  I  admit  the  emigrant  to 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern  himself,  but  I  deny 
his  right  to  govern  any  other  person  without  that  person's  con- 
sent. 


Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien 
As  to  'be  hated  needs  'but  to  be  seen; 
Yet,  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace. 

— Pope. 


286 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER   5 

One  whom  his  mother  comforteth.     Isaiah  66 :  13. 


(Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln  died  in   Spencer  County,   Indiana, 
October  5,  1818,  aged  35  years.) 

All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother,  bless- 
ings on  her  memory. 


I  can  remember  her  prayers,  and  they  have  always  followed  me. 
They  have  clung  to  me  all  my  life. 


I  promised  my  precious  mother  only  a  few  days  before  she  died 
that  I  would  never  use  anything  intoxicating  as  a  beverage,  and 
I  consider  that  promise  as  binding  to-day  as  it  was  the  day  I 
made  it. 


Ah !  mother  of  as  grand  a  son 

As  ever  battled  in  the  van 

To  prove  the  brotherhood  of  man, 
Such  lives  as  thine  are  never  done. 

We  can  out  wonder,  we  who  read 
The  past  with  backward  searching  look, 
Its  pages  open  as  a  book. 
If  thou  foresaw  where  he  icould  lead. 

— Ben  D.  House. 


287 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  6 

Thou  shalt  raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  generations.     Isaiah  58 : 12. 


jfoundationg  of  jl-leto 

(Extract  from  speech  in  the  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  15,  1858.) 

The  principle  upon  which  I  have  insisted  in  this  canvass  is  in 
relation  to  laying  the  foundation  of  new  societies.  I  have  never 
sought  to  apply  these  principles  to  the  old  States  for  the  purpose 
of  abolishing  slavery  in  those  States.  It  is  nothing  but  a  miser- 
able perversion  of  what  I  have  said,  to  assume  that  I  have  declared 
Missouri,  or  any  other  slave  State,  shall  emancipate  her  slaves. 
I  have  proposed  no  such  thing.  But  when  Mr.  Clay  says  that  in 
laying  the  foundations  of  societies  in  our  Territories  where  it  does 
not  exist,  he  would  be  opposed  to  the  introduction  of  slavery  as 
an  element,  I  insist  that  we  have  his  warrant — his  license — for 
insisting  upon  the  exclusion  of  that  element  which  he  declared 
in  such  strong  and  emphatic  language  was  most  hateful  to  him. 


Great  God!  we  thank  thee  for  this  home — 

This  bounteous   birthland  of  the  free; 
Where  wanderers  from  afar  may  come 

And  breatJie  the  air  of  liberty  t 
Still  may  her  flowers  untrampled  spring, 

Her  harvests  wave,  her  cities  rise; 
And  yet,  till  Time  shall  fold  his  wing, 

Remain  earth's  loveliest  paradise. 

— W.  J.  Pabodie. 


288 


The  Lincoln   Tomb  (it  Springfield,   HI. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  7 

So  they  read  in  the  book  in  the  law  of  God  distinctly,  and  gave  th 
sense,  and  caused  them  to  understand  the  reading.     Nehemiah  8  :  8. 


Mention  of  t&e  MHotd  "j^ffro,"  or  " 


(Extract  from  speech  in  the  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas  at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  15,  1858.  Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

There  is  no  mention  of  the  word  "negro,"  or  "slavery."  In  all 
three  of  these  places,  being  the  only  allusions  to  slavery  in  the 
instrument,  covert  language  is  used.  Language  is  used  not  sug- 
gesting that  slavery  or  that  the  black  race  were  among  us.  And 
I  understand  the  contemporaneous  history  of  those  times  to  be 
that  covert  language  was  used  with  a  purpose,  and  that  purpose 
was  that  in  our  Constitution,  which  it  was  hoped  and  is  still 
hoped  will  endure  forever  —  when  it  should  be  read  by  intelligent 
and  patriotic  men,  after  the  institution  of  slavery  has  passed 
from  among  us  —  there  should  be  nothing  on  the  face  of  the  great 
charter  of  liberty  suggesting  that  such  a  thing  as  negro  slavery 
had  ever  existed  among  us.  This  is  part  of  the  evidence  that  the 
fathers  of  the  Government  expected  and  intended  the  institution 
of  slavery  to  come  to  an  end. 


If  we  retain  the  glory  of  our  ancestors, 
Whose  ashes  will  rise  up  against  our  dullness, 
Shake  off  our  tameness,  and  give  way  to  courage, 
We  need  not  doubt,  inspired  with  a  just  rage, 
To  break  the  necks  of  those  that  would  yoke  ours. 

— Tatham. 


289 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  8 

There  are  contentions  among  you.     I.  Corinthians  1 :  11. 


Parallel. 

(Extract  from  speech  in  the  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  15,  1858.  Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

But  when  I  have  admitted  all  this,  I  ask  if  there  is  any  parallel 
between  these  things  and  this  institution  of  slavery?  I  do  not 
see  that  there  is  any  parallel  at  all  between  them.  Consider  it. 
When  have  we  had  any  difficulty  or  quarrel  amongst  ourselves 
about  the  cranberry  laws  of  Indiana,  or  the  oyster  laws  of  Vir- 
ginia, or  the  pine-lumber  laws  of  Maine,  or  the  fact  that  Louisiana 
produces  sugar,  and  Illinois  flour?  When  have  we  had  any  quar- 
rel over  these  things?  When  have  we  had  perfect  peace  in  regard 
to  this  thing  which  I  say  is  an  element  of  discord  in  this  Union? 
We  have  sometimes  had  peace,  but  when  was  it?  It  was  when  the 
institution  of  slavery  remained  quiet  where  it  was.  We  have  had 
difficulty  and  turmoil  whenever  it  has  made  a  struggle  to  spread 
itself  where  it  was  not.  I  ask,  then,  if  experience  does  not  speak 
in  thunder  tones,  telling  us  that  the  policy  which  has  given  peace 
to  the  country  heretofore,  being  returned  to,  gives  the  greatest 
promise  of  peace  again. 


Blest,  too,  is  he  who  can  divine 

Where  real  right  doth  lie, 
And  dares  to  take  the  side  that  seemi 

Wrong  to  man's  blindfolded  eye. 

— Falter 


290 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER   9 

Ye  are  cursed  with  a  curse.     Malacbi  3  :  8. 


itif  ot  Political  Circles. 


(Extract  from  speech  in  the  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  15,  1858.  Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

But  does  not  this  question  make  a  disturbance  outside  of  politi- 
cal circles?  Does  it  not  enter  into  churches  and  rend  them 
asunder?  What  divided  the  great  Methodist  Church  into  two 
parts,  North  and  South?  What  has  raised  this  constant  disturb- 
ance in  every  Presbyterian  General  Asesmbly  that  meets?  What 
disturbed  the  Unitarian  Church  in  this  very  city  two  years  ago? 
What  has  jarred  and  shaken  the  great  American  Tract  Society 
recently,  not  yet  splitting  it,  but  sure  to  divide  it  in  the  end?  Is 
it  not  this  same  mighty,  deep-seated  power  that  somehow  oper- 
ates on  the  minds  of  men,  exciting  and  stirring  them  up  in  every 
avenue  of  society,  in  politics,  in  religion,  in  literature,  in  morals, 
in  all  the  manifold  relations  of  life?  Is  this  the  work  of  'poli- 
ticians? Is  that  irresistible  power  which  for  fifty  years  has 
shaken  the  Government  and  agitated  the  people  to  be  stilled  and 
subdued  by  pretending  that  it  is  an  exceedingly  simple  thing, 
and  we  ought  not  to  talk  about  it?  If  you  will  get  everybody  to 
stop  talking  about  it,  I  assure  you  I  will  quit  before  they  have 
half  done  so.  ...  Where  is  the  philosophy  or  the  statesmanship 
based  on  the  assumption  that  we  are  to  quit  talking  about  it,  and 
that  the  public  mind  is  all  at  once  to  cease  being  agitated  by  it? 
Yet  this  is  the  policy  here  in  the  North  that  Douglas  is  advo- 
cating —  that  we  are  to  care  nothing  about  it!  I  ask  you,  is  it 
not  a  false  philosophy?  Is  it  not  a  false  statesmanship  that  under- 
takes to  build  up.  a  system  of  policy  upon  the  basis  of  caring 
nothing  about  the  very  thing  that  everybody  does  care  the  most 
about  —  a  thing  which  all  experience  has  shown  we  care  a  great 
deal  about? 


Shall  tongues  be  mute  when  deeds  are  wrought 

Which  well  might  shame  extremest  hellT 
Shall  freemen  lack  th'  indignant  thought? 

Shall  Mercy's  bosom  cease  to  sicellf 
Khali  Honor  bleed f     Shall   Truth   succumb* 
Shall  nen,  and  press,  and  soul  be  dumbf 

— Whittier. 
291 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  10 

Maketh  merchandise  of  him  ;   .    .   .   thou  shalt  put  evil  away  from  among 
you.     Deuteronomy  24  :  7. 


l&eal  3te0ue. 

(Extract  from  speech  in  the  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  15,  1858.  Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

The  real  issue  in  this  controversy — the  one  pressing  upon  every 
mind — is  the  sentiment  on  the  part  of  one  class  that  looks  upon 
the  institution  of  slavery  as  a  wrong,  and  of  another  class  that 
does  not  look  upon  it  as  a  wrong.  The  sentiment  that  contem- 
plates the  institution  of  slavery  in  this  country  as  a  wrong  is  the 
sentiment  of  the  Republican  party.  It  is  the  sentiment  around 
which  all  their  actions,  all  their  arguments  circle,  from  which  all 
their  propositions  radiate.  They  look  upon  it  as  being  a  moral, 
social,  and  political  wrong,  and  while  they  contemplate  it  as  such, 
they  nevertheless  have  due  regard  for  its  actual  existence  among 
us,  and  the  difficulties  of  getting  rid  of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way, 
and  to  all  the  Constitutional  obligations  thrown  about  it.  Yet, 
having  a  due  regard  for  these,  they  desire  a  policy  in  regard  to  it 
that  looks  to  its  not  creating  any  more  danger.  They  insist  that 
it  should,  as  far  as  may  be,  be  treated  as  a  wrong,  and  one  of  the 
methods  of  treating  it  as  a  wrong  is  to  make  provisions  that  it 
shall  grow  no  larger.  They  also  desire  a  policy  that  looks  to  a 
peaceful  end  of  slavery  at  some  time,  as  being  wrong. 


By  the  hope  within  us  springing, 

Herald  of  to-morrow's  strife; 
By  that  sun,  whose  light  is  bringing 

Chains  or  freedom,  death  or  life — 
Oh !  remember,  in  life  can  be 

No  charms  for  him  who  lives  not  free. 

— Moore. 


39-} 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER   11 

Hate  the  evil,  and  love  the  good,  and  establish  judgment  In  the  gate. 
Amos  5  :  15. 


3t  ag  a  Mir onff. 

(Extract  from  speech  In  the  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  15,  1858.  Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

On  this  subject  of  treating  it  as  a  wrong,  and  limiting  its 
spread,  let  me  say  a  word.  Has  anything  ever  threatened  the 
existence  of  the  Union  save  and  except  this  very  institution  of 
slavery?  What  is  it  that  we  hold  most  dear  among  us?  Our  own 
liberty  and  prosperity.  What  has  ever  threatened  our  liberty  and 
prosperity  save  and  except  this  institution  of  slavery?  If  this  is 
true,  how  do  you  propose  to  improve  the  condition  of  things  by 
enlarging  slavery — by  spreading  it  out  and  making  it  bigger? 
You  may  have  a  wen  or  cancer  upon  your  person  and  not  be  able 
to  cut  it  out  lest  you  bleed  to  death;  but  surely  it  is  no  way  to 
cure  it  to  engraft  it  and  spread  it  over  your  whole  body.  That 
is  no  proper  way  of  treating  what  you  regard  a  wrong.  You  see 
this  peaceful  way  of  dealing  with  it  as  a  wrong — restricting  the 
spread  of  it,  and  not  allowing  it  to  go  into  new  countries  where  it 
has  not  already  existed.  That  is  the  peaceful  way,  the  old-fash- 
ioned way,  the  way  in  which  the  fathers  themselves  set  us  the 
example. 


/  am  thinking  to-day  of  dem  years  dat  passed  away, 

When  dey  tied  me  up  in  bondage  long  ago; 
In  old  Virginny  State,  it  was  dar  we  separate, 

And  it  filled  my  heart  with  misery  and  woe. 
Dey  took  away  my  boy,  he  was  his  mother's  joy, 

From  a  baby  in  de  cradle  we  him  raise; 
Oh !  dey  put  us  far  apart,  an'  it  broke  de  old  man's  heart, 

In  dem  agonizing,  cruel  slavery  days. 

— Anonymous. 

293 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  12 

Stand  not   in  an  evil  thing.     Ecclesiastes  8  :  3. 


Pott  JRebet  {Treat  3t  as  a 


(Extract  from  speech  in  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas,  at  Alton,  Illinois,.  October  15,  1858.  Con- 
tinued from  preceding  page.) 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  said  there  is  a  sentiment  which 
treats  it  as  not  being  a  wrong.  That  is  the  Democratic  sentiment 
of  this  day.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  every  man  who  stands 
within  that  range  positively  asserts  that  it  is  right.  That  class 
will  include  all  who  positively  assert  that  it  is  right,  and  all  who, 
like  Judge  Douglas,  treat  it  as  indifferent  and  do  not  say  that  it 
is  either  right  or  wrong.  These  two  classes  of  men  fall  within 
the  general  class  of  those  who  do  not  look  upon  it  as  a  wrong; 
and  if  there  be  among  you  anybody  who  supposes  that  he,  as  a 
Democrat,  can  consider  himself  "as  much  opposed  to  slavery  as 
anybody,"  I  would  like  to  reason  with  him.  You  never  treat  it  as 
a  wrong.  What  other  thing  that  you  consider  as  a  wrong  do  you 
deal  with  as  you  deal  with  that?  Perhaps  you  say  it  is  wrong, 
but  your  leader  never  does,  and  you  quarrel  with  anybody  who 
says  it  is  wrong.  Although  you  pretend  to  say  so  yourself,  you 
can  find  no  fit  place  to  deal  with  it  as  a  wrong.  You  must  not 
say  anything  about  it  in  the  free  States  because  it  is  not  here. 
You  must  not  say  anything  about  it  in  the  slave  States  because  it 
is  there.  You  must  not  say  anything  about  it  in  the  pulpit 
because  that  is  religion  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  You  must 
not  say  anything  about  it  in  politics  because  that  will  disturb  the 
security  of  "my  place."  There  is  no  place  to  talk  about  it  as  being 
a  wrong,  although  you  say  yourself  it  is  a  wrong. 


Then  to  side  with  truth  is  noble  ichen  we  share  her  icretched  crust, 
Ere  her  cause  bring  fame  and  profit,  and  't  is  prosperous  to  be  just: 
Then  it  is  the  brave  man  chooses,  ichile  the  coward  stands  aside 
Doubting  in  his  abject  spirit,  till  his  Lord  is  crucified, 
And  the  multitude  make  virtue  of  the  faith  they  had  denied 

— Lowell. 
394 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER   13 

Say  ye  to  the  righteous,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  him.    .    .   .    Woe  unto 
the  wicked  !  it  shall  be  ill  with  him.     Isaiah  3 : 10,  11. 


(Eternal 

(Extract  from  speech  in  the  seventh  and  last  joint  debate 
with  Mr.  Douglas,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  October  15,  1858.  Con- 
tinued from  the  preceding  page.) 

That  is  the  real  issue.  That  is  the  issue  that  will  continue  in 
this  country  when  these  poor  tongues  of  Judge  Douglas  and  my- 
self shall  be  silent.  It  is  the  eternal  struggle  between  these  two 
principles — right  and  wrong — throughout  the  world.  They  are 
the  two  principles  that  have  stood  face  to  face  from  the  beginning 
of  time,  and  will  ever  continue  to  struggle.  The  one  is  the  com- 
mon right  of  humanity,  and  the  other  the  divine  right  of  kings. 
It  is  the  same  principle  in  whatever  shape  it  develops  itself.  It 
is  the  same  spirit  that  says,  "You  work  and  toil  and  earn  bread, 
and  I'll  eat  it."  No  matter  in  what  shape  it  comes,  whether  from 
the  mouth  of  a  king  who  seeks  to  bestride  the  people  of  his  own 
nation  and  live  by  the  fruit  of  their  labor,  or  from  one  race  of 
men  as  an  apology  for  enslaving  another  race,  it  is  the  same 
tyrannical  principle. 


It  's  coming  on  the  steeps  of  time, 

And  this  old  icorld  is  growing  brighter; 
We  may  not  see  its  dawn  sublime, 

But  high  hopes  make  the  heart  throb  lighter. 
We  may  be  sleeping  in  our  graves 

When  it  awakes  the  world  in  wonder, 
But  we  have  felt  its  coming  sound 

And  heard  its  voice  of  thunder. 

It  's  coming!   Yes,  it  's  coming! 

— Anonymous. 


295 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  14 

Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon  hath  taken  counsel  against  you,  and 
hath  conceived  a  purpose  against  you.     Jeremiah  49  :  30. 


^Declaration  ot  Purpose. 


(Extract  from  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  16, 
1859,  in  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  same 
place.) 

The  American  people,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1854,  found 
the  African  slave-trade  prohibited  by  a  law  of  Congress.  In  a 
majority  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  they  found  African  slavery, 
or  any  other  sort  of  slavery,  prohibited  by  State  constitutions. 
They  also  found  a  law  existing,  supposed  to  be  valid,  by  which 
slavery  was  excluded  from  almost  all  the  territory  the  United 
States  then  owned.  This  was  the  condition  of  the  country  with 
reference  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  on  the  first  of  January, 
1854.  A  few  days  after  that,  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Congress, 
which  ran  through  its  regular  course  in  the  two  branches  of  the 
National  Legislature,  and  finally  passed  into  a  law  in  the  month 
of  May,  by  which  the  act  of  Congress  prohibiting  slavery  from 
going  into  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  was  repealed.  In 
connection  with  the  law  itself,  and,  in  fact,  in  the  terms  of  the 
law,  the  then  existing  prohibition  was  not  only  repealed,  but 
there  was  a  declaration  of  a  purpose  on  the  part  of  Congress 
never  thereafter  to  exercise  any  power  that  they  might  have,  real 
or  supposed,  to  prohibit  the  extension  or  spread  of  slavery. 


The  mountains — they  proclaim 
The  everlasting  creed  of  liberty! 
That  creed  is  written  on  the  untrampled  snoip, 
Thundered   by   torrents   which   no   power  can   hold 
Save  that  of  God  when  he  sends  forth  his  cold, 
And  breathed  by  winds  that  through  the  free  heavens  blow. 

— Bryant. 


296 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  15 

Consider   the  years  of  many  generations.     Deuteronomy   32 :  7. 


(Genuine  Popular  &ofcmigntp. 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  16, 
1859,  in  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  same 
place.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

I  believe  there  is  a  genuine  popular  sovereignty.  I  think  a 
definition  of  genuine  popular  sovereignty,  in  the  abstract,  would 
be  about  this,  That  each  man  shall  do  precisely  as  he  pleases  with 
himself  and  with  those  things  which  exclusively  concern  him. 
Applied  to  government,  this  principle  would  be  that  a  general 
government  shall  do  all  those  things  which  pertain  to  it,  and  all 
the  local  governments  shall  do  precisely  as  they  please  in  respect 
to  those  matters  which  exclusively  concern  them.  I  understand 
that  this  Government  of  the  United  States,  under  which  we  live, 
is  based  upon  this  principle;  and  I  am  misunderstood  if  it  is 
supposed  that  I  have  any  war  to  make  upon  that  principle.  Now 
what  is  Judge  Douglas's  "popular  sovereignty"?  It  is,  as  a  prin- 
ciple, no  other  than  that,  if  one  man  chooses  to  make  a  slave  of 
another  man,  neither  that  other  man  nor  anybody  else  has  a  right 
to  object.  Applied  in  government,  as  he  seeks  to  apply  it,  it  is 
this:  If,  in  a  new  Territory  into  which  a  few  people  are  begin- 
ning to  enter  for  the  purpose  of  making  their  homes,  they  choose 
to  either  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits  or  to  establish  it  there, 
however  one  or  the  other  may  affect  the  persons  to  be  enslaved, 
or  the  indefinitely  greater  number  of  persons  who  are  afterward 
to  inhabit  that  Territory,  or  the  other  members  of  families  of 
communities  of  which  they  are  but  an  incipient  member,  or  the 
general  head  of  the  family  of  State  as  parent  of  all — however 
their  action  may  affect  one  or  the  other  of  these,  there  is  no  power 
or  right  to  interfere.  That  is  Douglas's  popular  sovereignty 
applied. 


Hail,  independence — by  true  reason  taught. 

How  few  have  known  and  prized  thee  as  they  ought! 

Some  give  thee  up  for  riot ;  some,  like  bo;/s, 

Resign  thee  in  their  childish  moods,  for  toys ; 

Ambition  some,  some  avarice  misleads, 

And  in  both  cases,  independence  bleeds. 

— Churchill. 
297 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  16 

Omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith. 
Matthew  23  :  23. 


/Batter  of  ^Dollars  and  Crnt0. 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  September  16, 
1859,  in  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  same 
place.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

After  Judge  Douglas  has  established  this  proposition,  which 
nobody  disputes  or  ever  has  disputed,  he  proceeds  to  assume,  with- 
out proving  it,  that  slavery  is  one  of  those  little,  unimportant, 
trivial  matters  which  are  of  just  as  much  consequence  as  the 
question  would  be  to  me  whether  my  neighbor  should  raise 
horned  cattle  or  plant  tobacco;  that  there  is  no  moral  question 
about  it,  but  that  it  is  altogether  a  matter  of  dollars  and  cents; 
that  when  a  new  Territory  is  opened  for  settlement,  the  first  man 
who  goes  into  it  may  plant  there  a  thing  which,  like  the  Canada 
thistle  or  some  other  of  those  pests  of  the  soil,  cannot  be  dug  out 
by  the  millions  of  men  who  will  come  together;  that  it  is  one  of 
those  little  things  that  is  so  trivial  in  its  nature  that  it  has  no 
effect  upon  anybody  save  the  few  men  who  first  plant  upon  the 
soil;  that  it  is  not  a  thing  which  in  any  way  affects  the  families 
of  communities  composing  these  States,  nor  in  any  way  endangers 
the  general  Government.  Judge  Douglas  ignores  altogether  the 
very  well  known  fact  that  we  have  never  had  a  serious  menace  to 
our  political  existence,  except  it  sprang  from  this  thing  which 
he  chooses  to  regard  as  only  upon  a  par  with  onions  and  potatoes. 


And  oh!  if  there  'be,  on  this  earthly  sphere, 

A  toon,  an  offering  Heaven  holds  dear, 

'Tis  the  last  libation  liberty  draws 

From  the  heart  that  bleeds,  and  breaks  in  her  cause ! 

— Moore. 


298 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  17 

As  If  that  were  a  very  little  thing.     Ezeklel  16  :  47. 


Jiittlt  J|2egto  Question. 


(Extract  from  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  16, 
1859,  in  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  same 
place.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

There  is  another  little  difficulty  about  this  matter  of  treating 
the  Territories  and  States  alike  in  all  things,  to  which  I  ask  your 
attention,  and  I  shall  leave  this  branch  of  the  case.  If  there  is 
no  difference  between  them,  why  not  make  the  Territories  States 
at  once?  What  is  the  reason  that  Kansas  was  not  fit  to  come  into 
the  Union  when  it  was  organized  into  a  Territory,  in  Judge  Doug- 
las's view?  Can  any  of  you  tell  any  reason  why  it  should  not 
have  come  into  the  Union  at  once?  They  are  fit,  as  he  thinks,  to 
decide  upon  the  slavery  question  —  the  largest  and  most  important 
with  which  they  could  possibly  deal.  What  could  they  do  by 
coming  into  the  Union  that  they  are  not  fit  to  do,  according  to  his 
view,  by  staying  out  of  it?  Oh!  they  are  not  fit  to  sit  in  Congress 
and  decide  upon  the  rates  of  postage  or  questions  of  ad  valorem, 
or  specific  duties  on  foreign  goods,  or  live  oak-timber  contracts. 
They  are  not  fit  to  decide  these  vastly  important  matters,  which 
are  national  in  their  import,  but  they  are  "fit  from  the  jump"  to 
decide  this  little  negro  question. 


My  angel — his  name  is  Freedom — 

Choose  Mm  to  be  your  king; 
He  shall  cut  pathways  East  and  West, 

And  fend  you  with  his  icing. 

— Emerson. 


299 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER   18 

ri 


flDrdinance  of  1787. 

(Extract  from  a  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  16, 
1859,  in  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  same 
place.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

But  three  years  after  that  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation 
were  together  again,  and  they  adopted  a  new  ordinance  for  the 
government  of  this  Northwest  Territory,  not  contemplating  ter- 
ritory south  of  the  river,  for  the  States  owning  that  territory  had 
hitherto  refrained  from  giving  it  to  the  general  Government; 
hence  they  made  the  ordinance  to  apply  only  to  what  the  Govern- 
ment owned.  In  that,  the  provision  excluding  slavery  was  in- 
serted and  passed  unanimously,  or  at  any  rate  it  passed  and 
became  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land.  Under  that  ordinance  we 
live.  First  here  in  Ohio  you  were  a  Territory,  then  an  enabling 
act  was  passed,  authorizing  you  to  form  a  constitution  and  State 
government,  provided  it  was  republican  and  not  in  conflict  with 
the  Ordinance  of  '87.  When  you  framed  your  constitution  and 
presented  it  for  admission,  I  think  you  will  find  the  legislation 
upon  the  subject  will  show  that,  "whereas  you  had  formed  a  con- 
stitution that  was  republican  and  not  in  conflict  with  the  Ordi- 
nance of  '87,"  therefore  you  were  admitted  upon  equal  footing 
with  the  original  States.  The  same  process  in  a  few  years  was 
gone  through  with  in  Indiana,  and  so  with  Illinois,  and  the  same 
substantially  with  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 


Land  of  the  West — beneath  the  heaven 

There  's  not  a  fairer,  lovelier  clime, 
Not  one  to  which  was  ever  given 

A  destiny  more  high,  sublime, 

— Gallagher. 


300 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  19 

How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opinions  ?    I.  Kings  18  :  21. 


of  G£0tftt)ltel)ing  a  Proposition. 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  16, 
1859,  in  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  same 
place.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

There  are  two  ways  of  establishing  a  proposition.  One  is  by 
trying  to  demonstrate  it  upon  reason,  and  the  other  is  to  show 
that  great  men  in  former  times  have  thought  so  and  so,  and  thus 
to  pass  it  by  weight  of  pure  authority.  Now,  if  Judge  Douglas 
will  demonstrate  somehow  that  this  is  popular  sovereignty — the 
right  of  one  man  to  make  a  slave  of  another,  without  any  right  in 
that  other,  or  any  one  else  to  object — demonstrate  it  as  Euclid 
demonstrated  a  proposition — there  is  no  objection.  But  when  he 
comes  forward  seeking  to  carry  a  principle  by  bringing  it  to  the 
authority  of  men  who  themselves  utterly  repudiate  that  principle, 
I  ask  that  he  shall  not  be  permitted  to  do  it.  I  see  in  the  Judge's 
speech  here,  a  short  sentence  in  these  words,  "Our  fathers,  when 
they  formed  this  Government  under  which  we  live,  understood 
this  question  just  as  well  and  even  better  than  we  do  now."  That 
is  true;  I  stick  to  that.  I  will  stand  by  Judge  Douglas  in  that  to 
the  bitter  end.  And  now,  Judge  Douglas,  come  and  stand  by  me, 
and  truthfully  show  how  they  acted,  understanding  it  better  than 
we  do.  All  I  ask  of  you,  Judge  Douglas,  is  to  stick  to  the  propo- 
sition that  the  men  of  the  Revolution  understood  this  subject 
better  than  we  do  now,  and  with  that  better  understanding  they 
acted  better  than  you  are  trying  to  act  now. 


The  grand  debate. 

The  popular  harangue,  the  tart  reply. 
The  logic,  and  the  'wisdom,  and  the  wit, 
And  the  loud  laugh — I  long  to  know  them  all. 

— Cowper. 


301 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  20 

Through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  prosper.     Daniel  8 :  25. 


3$m  fatter  of 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  16, 
1859,  In  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  same 
place.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

If  this  principle  is  established,  that  there  is  no  wrong  in 
slavery,  and  whoever  wants  it  has  a  right  to  have  it,  it  is  a  matter 
of  dollars  and  cents,  a  sort  of  question  as  to  how  they  shall  deal 
with  brutes,  and  that  between  us  and  the  negro  here  there  is  no 
sort  of  question,  but  that  at  the  South  the  question  is  between  the 
negro  and  the  crocodile.  That  is  all.  It  is  a  mere  matter  of 
policy;  there  is  a  perfect  right  according  to  interest  to  do  just  as 
you  please.  When  this  is  done,  where  this  doctrine  prevails,  the 
miners  and  the  sappers  will  have  formed  public  opinion  for  the 
slave-trade.  They  will  be  ready  for  Jeff.  Davis  and  Stephens  and 
other  leaders  of  that  company,  to  sound  the  bugle  for  the  revival 
of  the  slave-trade,  for  the  second  Dred  Scott  decision,  for  the 
flood  of  slavery  to  be  poured  over  the  free  States,  while  we  shall 
be  here  tied  down  and  helpless  and  run  over  like  sheep. 


Down  with  the  LAW  that  binds  him  thus! 

Unworthy  freemen,  let  it  flnd 
No  refuge  from  the  withering  curse 

Of  God  and  human  kind! 
Open  the  prisoner's  living  tomb, 
And  usher  from  its  brooding  gloom 
The  victims  of  your  savage  code 
To  the  free  sun  and  air  of  God! 
No  longer  dare  as  crime  to  brand 
The  chastening  of  th'  Almighty's  hand. 

—Whittier. 


302 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  21 

For  the  oppression  of  the  poor,  for  the  sighing  of  the  needy,  now  will  I 
arise,  saith  the  Lord.     Psalms  12  :  5. 


<3Tentiencie0  to  (Qiltimati  (Emancipation. 

(Extract  from  a  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  September  16, 
1859,  in  reply  to  a  recent  speech  of  Mr.  Douglas  at  the  same 
place.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Now,  if  you  are  opposed  to  slavery  honestly,  as  much  as  any- 
body, I  ask  you  to  note  that  fact,  and  the  like  of  which  is  to 
follow,  to  be  plastered  on,  layer  after  layer,  until  very  soon  you 
are  prepared  to  deal  with  the  negro  everywhere  as  with  the  brute. 
If  public  sentiment  has  not  been  debauched  already  to  this  point, 
a  new  turn  of  the  screw  in  that  direction  is  all  that  is  wanting; 
and  this  is  constantly  being  done  by  the  teachers  of  this  insidious 
popular  sovereignty.  You  need  but  one  or  two  turns  further  until 
your  minds,  now  ripening  under  these  teachings,  will  be  ready  for 
all  these  things,  and  you  will  receive  and  support,  or  submit  to 
the  slave-trade,  revived  with  all  its  horrors,  a  slave  code  enforced 
in  our  Territories,  and  a  new  Dred  Scott  decision  to  bring  slavery 
up  to  the  very  heart  of  the  free  North.  This,  I  must  say,  is  but 
carrying  out  those  words  prophetically  spoken  by  Mr.  Clay  many, 
many  years  ago — I  believe  more  than  thirty  years — when  he  told 
an  audience  that  if  they  would  repress  all  tendencies  to  liberty 
and  ultimate  emancipation,  they  must  go  back  to  the  era  of  our 
independence  and  muzzle  the  cannon  which  thundered  its  annual 
joyous  return  on  the  Fourth  of  July;  they  must  blow  out  the 
moral  lights  around  us;  they  must  penetrate  the  human  soul  and 
eradicate  the  love  of  liberty;  but  until  they  did  these  things,  and 
others  eloquently  enumerated  by  him,  they  could  not  repress  all 
tendencies  to  ultimate  emancipation. 


We  pray  de  Lord  he  gib  a  sign, 

Dot  some  day  ice  be  free; 
De  norf  wind  tell  it  to  de  pines, 

De  wild  duck  to  de  sea.; 
We  tink  it  when  de  church  bell  ring, 

We  dream  it  in  de  dream; 
De  rice  bird  mean,  it  when  he  sing, 

De    agle   when    he    scream. 

— Whittier. 

3«3 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  23 

The  law  of  the  wise  Is  a  fountain  of  life.     Proverbs  13 : 14. 


Ultimate  Eato  for  Sill 

(Extract  from  a  speech  in  response  to  a  call  of  loyal  Mary- 
landers  and  others,  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  October  19, 
1864,  who  serenaded  the  President  in  honor  of  the  new  State 
constitution  adopted,  October  12,  1864.) 

I  am  notified  that  this  is  a  compliment  paid  me  by  the  loyal 
Marylanders  resident  in  this  District.  I  infer  that  the  adoption 
of  the  new  constitution  for  that  State  furnishes  the  occasion,  and 
that  in  your  view  the  extirpation  of  slavery  constitutes  the  chief 
merit  of  the  new  constitution.  Most  heartily  do  I  congratulate 
you  and  Maryland  and  the  Nation  and  the  world  upon  the  event. 
I  regret  that  it  did  not  occur  two  years  sooner,  which  I  am  sure 
would  have  saved  to  the  Nation  more  money  than  would  have  mot 
all  the  private  loss  incident  to  the  measure.  But  it  has  come  at 
last,  and  I  sincerely  hope  its  friends  may  fully  realize  all  their 
anticipations  of  good  from  it,  and  that  its  opponents  may  by  its 
effect  be  agreeably  and  profitably  disappointed.  ...  I  am 
struggling  to  maintain  the  Government,  not  to  overthrow  it;  I 
am  struggling  especially  to  prevent  others  from  overthrowing  it, 
and  I  therefore  say  that  if  I  shall  live,  I  shall  remain  President 
until  the  4th  of  next  March,  and  that  whoever  shall  be  constitu- 
tionally elected  thereto  in  November  shall  be  duly  installed  as 
President  on  the  4th  of  March,  and  that  in  the  meantime  I  shall 
do  my  utmost,  that  whoever  is  to  hold  the  helm  for  the  next 
voyage  shall  start  with  the  best  possible  chance  to  save  the  ship. 
This  is  due  to  the  people,  both  on  principle  and  under  the  Consti- 
tution. Their  will,  constitutionally  expressed,  is  the  ultimate 
law  for  all. 


Lincoln,  the  patriot,  who  by  stroke  of  his  pen, 
Proclaimed  emancipation,  gave  freedom  to  men; 
Tho'  in  time  Mississippi  to  flow  may  cease, 
His  name  will  live  on,  while  his  soul  rests  in  peace. 

— Clara  Lothamer  Miner. 

304 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER   23 

They  agreed  not  among  themselves.     Acts  28  :  25. 


Katiicate  anli  Congcrbattbcs. 

(Extract  from  a  lengthy  letter  to  Honorable  Charles  Drake 
and  others,  October  5,  1863.) 

I  do  not  feel  justified  to  enter  upon  the  broad  field  you  present 
in  regard  to  the  political  differences  between  radicals  and  con- 
servatives. From  time  to  time  I  have  done  and  said  what  appeared 
to  me  proper  to  do  and  say.  The  public  knows  it  well.  It  obliges 
nobody  to  follow  me,  and  I  trust  it  obliges  me  to  follow  nobody. 
The  radicals  and  conservatives  each  agree  with  me  in  some  things 
and  disagree  in  others.  I  could  wish  both  to  agree  with  me  in  all 
things;  for  then  they  would  agree  with  each  other,  and  would  be 
too  strong  for  any  foe  from  any  quarter.  They,  however,  choose 
to  do  otherwise;  and  I  do  not  question  their  right.  I,  too,  shall 
do  what  seems  to  be  my  duty. 


Here  's  a  sigh  for  those  who  Jove  me, 
And  a  smile  to  those  who  hate; 

And  whatever  sky's  above  me, 
Here  's  a  heart  for  any  fate. 

Byron. 


305 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  24 

And  the  Lord  was  very  angry  with  Aaron  to  have  destroyed  him  :  and 
I  prayed  for  Aaron  also  the  same  time.     Deuteronomy  9  :  20. 


&crtptutal 


(In  reply  to  a  criticism  for  appointing  to  an  office  a  man 
who  had  strongly  opposed  the  President's  second  term.) 

Well,  I  suppose  Judge  B.,  having  been  disappointed  before,  did 
behave  pretty  ugly,  but  that  wouldn't  make  him  any  less  fit  for 
the  place;  and  I  think  I  have  Scriptural  authority  for  appointing 
him.  You  remember  when  the  Lord  was  on  Mount  Sinai,  getting 
out  a  commission  for  Aaron,  that  same  Aaron  was  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  making  a  false  god  for  the  people  to  worship.  Yet 
Aaron  got  his  commission,  you  know. 


Siceet  are  the  uses  of  adversity, 

Which,  like  the  toad,  ugly  and  venomous, 

Wears  yet  a  precious  jewel  in  his  head; 

And  this  our  life,  exempt  from  public  haunt, 

Finds  tongues  in  trees,  hooks  in  the  running  brooks, 

Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything. 

— Shakespeare. 


306 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  25 

Then  the  devil  .   .   .   saith  unto  him.   ...   it  is  written.    Matthew  4:5,  6. 


in  TBible 

(Extract  from  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,   September  17, 
1859,  addressed  to  Kentuckians.     See  September  18.) 

In  Kentucky  perhaps,  in  many  of  the  slave  States  certainly,  you 
are  trying  to  establish  the  rightfulness  of  slavery  by  reference  to 
the  Bible.  You  are  trying  to  show  that  slavery  existed  in  the 
Bible  times  by  divine  ordinance.  Now,  Douglas  is  wiser  than 
you,  for  your  own  benefit,  upon  that  subject.  Douglas  knows  that 
whenever  you  establish  that  slavery  was  right  by  the  Bible,  it 
will  occur  that  that  slavery  was  the  slavery  of  the  white  man — 
of  men  without  reference  to  color — and  he  knows  very  well  that 
you  may  entertain  that  idea  in  Kentucky  as  much  as  you  please; 
but  you  will  never  win  any  Northern  support  upon  it.  He  makes 
a  wiser  argument  for  you;  he  makes  the  argument  that  the 
slavery  of  the  black  man,  the  slavery  of  the  man  who  has  a  skin 
of  a  different  color  from  your  own,  is  right.  He  thereby  brings  to 
your  support  Northern  voters  who  would  not  for  a  moment  be 
brought  by  your  own  argument  of  the  Bible  right  of  slavery. 


The  devil  can  cite  Scripture  for  his  purpose; 

An  evil  soul,  producing  holy  icitness, 

Is  like  a  villian  with  a  smiling  cheek: 

A  goodly  apple,  rotten  at  the  heart: 

O  what  a  goodly  outside  falsehood  hath! 

— Shakespeare. 


307 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  26 

Ah  plain  to  nim  that  understandeth.     Proverbs  8  :  i>. 


Illustration. 

(From  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September  17,  1859. 
Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Pray,  what  was  it  that  made  you  free?  What  kept  you  free? 
Did  you  not  find  your  country  free  when  you  came  to  decide  that 
Ohio  should  be  a  free  State?  It  is  Important  to  inquire  by  what 
reason  you  found  it  so.  Let  us  take  an  illustration  between  the 
States  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  Kentucky  is  separated  from  us  by 
this  river  Ohio,  not  a  mile  wide.  A  portion  of  Kentucky,  by 
reason  of  the  course  of  the  Ohio,  is  farther  north  than  this  portion 
of  Ohio  in  which  we  now  stand.  Kentucky  is  entirely  covered 
witn  slavery;  Ohio  is  entirely  free  from  it.  What  made  that  dif- 
ference? Was  it  climate?  No!  A  portion  of  Kentucky  was  further 
north  than  this  portion  of  Ohio.  Was  it  soil?  No!  There  is 
nothing  in  the  soil  of  the  one  more  favorable  to  slave  labor  than 
the  other.  It  was  not  climate  or  soil  that  caused  one  side  of  the 
line  to  be  entirely  covered  with  slavery  and  the  other  side  free  of 
it.  What  was  it?  Study  over  it.  Tell  us,  if  you  can,  in  all  the 
range  or  conjecture,  if  there  be  anything  you  can  conceive  of  that 
made  that  difference,  other  than  that  there  was  no  law  of  any 
sort  keeping  it  out  of  Kentucky,  while  the  Ordinance  of  '87  kept 
it  out  of  Ohio.  If  there  is  any  other  reason  than  this,  I  confess 
that  it  is  wholly  beyond  my  power  to  conceive  of  it.  This,  then,  I 
offer  to  combat  the  idea  that  that  ordinance  has  never  made  any 
State  free. 


My  country!  aye,  thy  sons  are  proud, 
True  heirs  of  freedom's  glorious  dower, 

For  never  here  has  knee  been  bowed 
In  homage  to  a  mortal  power. 

— Mrs.  Hale. 


308 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  27 

Remove  not  the  ancient  landmark,  which  thy  fathers  have  set.     Prov 
erbs  22:28. 


Unto  tana  Became  a  jptee  §>tate. 

(Extract   from   a   speech   at   Cincinnati,    Ohio,    September 
17,  1859.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

i  don't  stop  at  this  illustration.  I  come  to  the  State  ol  Indiana, 
and  what  I  have  said  as  between  Kentucky  and  Ohio  1  repeat  as 
between  Indiana  and  Kentucky;  it  is  equally  applicable.  One 
additional  argument  is  applicable  also  to  Indiana.  In  her  Terri- 
torial condition  she  more  than  once  petitioned  Congress  to  abro- 
gate the  ordinance  entirely,  or  at  least  so  far  as  to  suspend  its 
operation  for  a  time,  in  order  that  they  should  exercise  the  "pop- 
ular sovereignty"  of  having  slaves  if  they  wanted  them.  The 
men  then  controlling  the  general  Government,  imitating  the  men 
of  the  Revolution,  refused  Indiana  that  privilege.  And  so  we 
have  evidence  that  Indiana  supposed  she  could  have  slaves,  if  it 
were  not  for  that  ordinance;  that  she  besought  Congress  to  re- 
move that  barrier  out  of  the  way;  that  Congress  refused  to  do  so, 
and  it  all  ended  at  last  in  Indiana  being  a  Free  State.  Tell  me 
not,  then,  that  the  Ordinance  of  '87  had  nothing  to  do  with  making 
Indiana  a  free  State,  when  we  find  some  men  chafing  against  and 
only  restrained  by  that  barrier. 


Thou,  O  my  country,  hast  thy  foolish  ways, 
Too  apt  to  purr  at  every  strangers  praise — 
But  if  the  stranger  touch  ttiy  modes  or  laics, 
Off  goes  the  velvet  and  out  come  the  claws. 

— Holmes. 


309 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  28 

A  mail   .   .    .   went  out  early  in  the  morning  to  hire  laborers.     Matthew 
20:1. 


Capital  and  Habor. 


(Extract    from    a  speech   at   Cincinnati,   Ohio,    September 
17,  1859.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Labor  is  the  great  source  from  which  nearly  all,  if  not  all 
human  comforts  and  necessities  are  drawn.  There  is  a  difference 
in  opinion  about  the  elements  of  labor  in  (society.  Some  men 
assume  that  there  is  a  necessary  connection  between  capital  and 
labor,  and  that  connection  draws  within  it  the  whole  or  the  labor 
of  the  community.  They  assume  that  nobody  works  unless  capi- 
tal excites  them  to  work.  They  begin  next  to  consider  what  is 
the  best  way.  They  say  there  are  but  two  ways:  one  is  to  hire 
men  and  to  allure  them  to  labor  by  their  consent;  the  other  is  to 
buy  the  men  and  drive  them  to  it,  and  that  is  slavery.  Having 
assumed  that,  they  proceed  to  discuss  the  question  of  whether  the 
laborers  themselves  are  better  off  in  the  condition  of  slaves  or  of 
hired  laborers,  and  they  usually  decide  that  they  are  better  off  in 
the  condition  of  slaves.  In  the  first  place,  I  say  that  the  whole 
thing  is  a  mistake.  That  there  is  a  certain  relation  between  capi- 
tal and  labor  i  admit;  that  it  does  exist,  and  rightfully  exists,  I 
think  is  true;  that  men  who  are  industrious  and  sober  and  honest 
in  the  pursuit  of  their  own  interests  should  after  a  while  accumu- 
late capital,  and  alter  that  should  be  allowed  to  enjoy  it  in  peace, 
and  also,  if  they  should  choose,  when  they  have  accumulated  it, 
to  use  it  to  save  themselves  from  actual  labor  and  hire  other 
people  to  labor  for  tnem,  is  right.  In  doing  so,  they  do  not  wrong 
the  man  they  employ,  for  they  find  men  who  have  not  of  their 
own  land  to  work  upon,  or  shops  to  work  in,  and  who  are  bene- 
fited by  working  for  others — hired  laborers,  receiving  their  capi- 
tal for  it.  Thus  a  few  men  that  own  capital  hire  a  few  others, 
and  these  establish  the  relation  or  capital  and  labor  rightfully — 
a  relation  of  which  I  make  no  complaint.  But  I  insist  that  that 
relation,  after  all,  does  not  embrace  more  than  one-eighth  of  the 
labor  of  the  country- 

No  man  is  born  into  the  world  whose  worn 
Is  not  oorn  with  him.     There  is  always  work, 
And  tools  to  work  withal,  for  those  who  will; 
And   blessed   be   the   horny   hands   of   toil. 

— Loweli. 
£10 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  29 

From  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  holy  scriptures.     II.  Timothy  3  : 15. 


(Boob  flDId  $®atim&  of  tije  25ible. 

(Extract   from   a   speech   at    Cincinnati,   Ohio,    September 
17,  1859.     Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

The  good  old  maxims  of  the  Bible  are  applicable,  and  truly 
applicable  to  human  affairs,  and  in  this,  as  in  other  things,  we 
may  say  here  that  he  who  is  not  for  us  is  against  us;  he  who 
gathereth  not  with  us,  scattereth.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  some 
of  the  many  good  and  able  and  noble  men  of  the  South  to  place 
themselves  where  we  can  confer  upon  them  the  high  honor  of  an 
election  upon  one  or  the  other  end  of  our  ticket.  It  would  do  my 
soul  good  to  do  that  thing.  It  would  enable  us  to  teach  them 
that,  inasmuch  as  we  select  one  of  their  own  number  to  carry 
out  our  principles,  we  are  free  from  the  charge  that  we  mean  to 
do  more  than  we  say. 


The  Evblel  the  Bible!  we  hail  it  with  joy; 

Its  truths  and  its  glories  our  tongues  shall  employ; 
We  'II  sing  of  its  triumphs,  we  'II  tell  of  its  worth, 

And  send  its  glad   tidings  afar  o'er  the  earth. 

— Anonymous. 


811 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  SO 

Let  them   be  driven  backward   and  put  to  shame  that   wish   me  evil. 
Psalms    40  :  14. 


021105  gott  CoulU 

(To  a  lady  whose  husband  he  had  pardoned,  and  after  she 
had  said.  "Good-by,  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  shall  probably  never  see 
you  again  till  we  meet  in  heaven.") 

I  am  afraid,  with  all  my  troubles,  I  shall  never  get  to  the  rest- 
ing-place you  speak  of;  but  if  I  do,  I  am  sure  I  shall  find  you. 
That  you  wish  me  to  get  there  is,  I  believe,  the  best  wish  you 
could  make  for  me.  Good-by. 

(Immediately  after,  to  Mr.   Speed.) 

It  is  more  than  many  can  often  say,  that  in  doing  right  one  has 
made  two  people  happy  in  one  day.  Die  when  I  may,  I  want  it 
said  of  me  by  those  who  know  me  best,  that  I  have  always 
plucked  a  thistle  and  planted  a  flov/er  when  I  thought  a  flower 
would  grow. 


Lend   a   helping  hand,   my   brother; 
Sister,  cheer  the  saddened  one, 
Earth  is  full  of  sorrow's  children, 
God    has    plenty    to    he  done. 
He  has  placed  thee  here  for  something; 
Some  great  purpose  to  be  wrought; 
See  thou   dost  not  lose  thy  crowning. 
When  rewards  cannot   be  bought. 

— Anonymous. 


812 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


OCTOBER  31   (Hallowe'en) 

He    shall   deliver   thee   from   the   snare   of   the    fowler,    and    from    the 
noisome  pestilence.     Psalms   »1 :  3. 


But  a  j|2oi0r. 


(To    F.    B.    Carpenter,    In    1864.) 

Some  years  ago  a  couple  of  emigrants  fresh  from  the  Emerald 
Isle,  seeking  labor,  were  making  their  way  toward  the  West. 
Coming  suddenly,  one  evening,  upon  a  pond  or  water,  tney  were 
greeted  with  a  grand  chorus  of  bullfrogs — a  kind  of  music  tney 
had  never  before  heard.  "B-a-u-m!" — "B-a-u-m!"  Overcome  with 
terror,  they  clutched  their  "shillalahs"  and  crept  cautiously  for- 
ward, straining  their  eyes  in  every  direction  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  the  enemy;  but  he  was  not  to  be  found!  At  last  a  happy  idea 
seized  the  foremost  one;  he  sprang  to  his  companion  ana  ex- 
claimed, "And  sure,  Jamie,  it  is  my  opinion  it's  nothing  but  a 
noise!" 


Hallowe'en  comes  but  once  a  year, 

Over  at  mi/  house  you  will  find  good  cheer; 

I  shall  certainly  expect  you  at  quarter  to  eight, 

Later  than  that  ghosts  will  have  fastened  the  gate. 

— Anonymous. 


313 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  1 

Cast  me  not  off   in  the   time  of   old   age :  forsake   me   not   when   my 
strength  faileth.      Psalms  71 ;  9. 


(General  flfllinf  ielb  §>cott  Retire*. 

(Order   issued   November  1,   1861.) 

On  the  first  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1861,  upon  his  application 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Brevet  Lieutenant  General 
Winfield  Scott  is  ordered  to  be  placed,  and  hereby  is  placed  upon 
the  list  of  retired  officers  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  with- 
out reduction  in  his  current  pay,  subsistences,  or  allowances. 
The  American  people  will  hear  with  sadness  and  deep  emotion 
that  General  Scott  has  withdrawn  from  the  active  control  of  the 
army,  while  the  President  and  the  unanimous  Cabinet  express 
their  own  and  the  Nation's  sympathy  in  his  personal  affliction, 
and  their  profound  sense  of  the  important  public  services  ren- 
dered by  him  to  his  country  during  his  long  and  brilliant  career, 
among  which  will  ever  be  gratefully  distinguished  his  faithful 
devotion  to  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  Flag  when  as- 
sailed by  a  parricidal  rebellion. 


The  fame  that  a  man  inns  himself  is  oest; 
That  he  may  call  his  own;  honors  put  on  htm 
Make  him  no  more  a  mart  than  his  clothes  do. 
Which  are  as  soon  taken  off;  for  in  the  warmth 
The  heat  comes  from  the  body,  not  the  weeds; 
So  man's  true  fame  must  strike  from  his  own  deeds. 

— Middleton. 


814 


THE  LINCOLN   YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  2 

He  also  that  Is  slothful  In  his  work  Is  brother  to  him  that  Is  a  great 
waster.     Proverbs  18  :  9. 


Squirming  airt  Cratoltng  ftbout. 

(From  a  letter  written  In  1851  to  his  step-brother,  John 
Johnson,   whom   he  had  often   aided.) 

What  can  you  do  in  Missouri  better  than  here?  Is  the  land 
any  richer?  Can  you  there,  any  more  than  here,  raise  corn  and 
wheat  and  oats  without  work?  Will  anybody  there,  any  mure 
than  here,  do  your  work  for  you?  If  you  intend  to  go  to  work, 
chere  is  no  better  place  than  right  where  you  are;  if  you  do  not 
intend  to  go  to  work,  you  cannot  get  along  anywhere.  Squirming 
and  crawling  about  from  place  to  place  can  do  no  good.  You 
have  raised  no  crop  tnis  year,  and  what  you  really  want  is  to  sell 
the  land,  get  the  money,  and  spend  it.  Part  with  the  land  you 
have,  and,  my  life  upon  it,  you  will  never  after  own  a  spot  big 
enough  to  bury  you  in.  Half  you  get  for  the  land  you  will  spend 
in  moving  to  Missouri,  and  the  other  half  you  will  eat,  drink,  and 
wear  out,  and  no  foot  of  land  will  be  bought.  Now,  I  feel  it  my 
duty  to  have  no  hand  in  such  a  piece  of  foolery. 


O  w<nd  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us 
To  see  oursel's  as  ithers  see  us ! 
It  wad  frae  monte  a  blunder  free  us, 
An'   foolish   notion. 

— Burns. 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  3 

Fear  God,  and  keep  his  commandments :  for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of 
tan.      Eccleslastes    12  : 13. 


tttep  on  SDomg  flDut 


(In  response  to  George  H.  Stuart,  chairman.  Bishop  Jones, 
Chaplain  McCabe,  and  other  members  of  the  Christian  Com- 
mission, at  the  White  House,  in  1864.) 

Gentlemen,  I  owe  no  thanks  for  what  you  have  done.  You  owe 
me  no  thanks  for  what  I  have  done.  You  have  done  your  duty;  1 
have  done  mine.  Let  us  keep  on  doing  our  duty,  and  by  the  help 
of  God  we  may  yet  save  our  country.  I  shall  be  glad  to  take  each 
of  you  by  the  hand. 


The  world  may  scorn  me,  if  they  choose — I  care 
But   little  for  their  scofflngs.       I  may  sink 
For  momenta,  ~but  I  rise  again,  nor  shrink 
From   doing  what  the  faithful  heart  inspires. 
I  will  not  flatter,  fawn,  nor  crouch,  nor  wink 
At  what  high-mounted  wealth  or  power  desires: 
I  have  a  loftier  aim  to  which  my  soul  aspires. 

— Pcrciral. 


316 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAh  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  4 

Wnoso  findeth  a  wife  findeth  a  good  thing.     Proverbs  18 :  22. 


31  j^oto 

(Words  repeated  at  his  marriage  as  he  placed  the  ring  on 
the  nnger  of  his  oride,  Miss  Mary  Todd,  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, November  4,  1842.) 

With  this  ring  I  now  thee  wed,  and  wltn  all  my  worldly  goous 
I  thee  endow. 

(From  a  letter  written  May  18,  1843,  to  J.  F.  Speed,  of 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  his  close  personal  friend.) 

We  are  not  keeping  house,  but  boarding  at  the  Globe  Tavern, 
which  is  very  well  kept  now  by  a  widow  of  the  name  of  Beck. 
Boarding  costs  us  only  four  dollars  a  week.  ...  I  most  heartily 
wish  that  you  and  your  Fanny  will  not  fail  to  come.  Just  let 
us  know  the  time,  a  week  in  advance,  and  we  will  have  a  room 
prepared  for  you,  and  we'll  all  be  merry  together  for  a  while. 


Marriage   is   the   golden   chain 

That    binds    two    hearts    together 

For  pleasure  or  for  pain, 

For  storm   or  pleasant  weather. 

— Chas.  Benj.  Manley. 


317 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  5 

Ointment  and  perfume  rejoice  the  heart :  so  doth  the  sweetness  of  a 
man's  friend   by   hearty   counsel.      Proverbs  27 :  9. 


Contemn  (Essential 

(To  Honorable  Robert  Dale  Owen,  who  submitted  a  paper 
on  amnesty  a  few  weeks  before  the  President's  message  for 
1863,  to  which  was  appended  the  Proclamation  of  Amnesty.) 

Mr.  Owen,  it  is  due  to  you  that  I  should  say  that  you  have  con- 
ferred a  very  essential  service,  both  upon  me  and  the  country,  Dy 
the  preparation  of  this  paper.  It  contains  that  which  it  was 
exceedingly  important  that  I  should  know,  but  which,  IT  left  to 
myself,  I  never  should  have  known,  because  I  have  not  the  time 
necessary  for  such  an  examination  of  authorities  as  a  review  of 
this  kind  involves.  And  I  want  to  say,  secondly,  if  I  had  the 
time,  I  could  not  have  done  the  work  so  well  as  you  have  done  it. 


O   friends,  'be  men  and   let  your  hearts  'be  strong, 
And  let  no   warrior  in   the  heat  of  fight 
Do  what  may   bring  him  shame  in  others'  eyes; 
For  more  of  those  who  shrink  from  shame  are  safe 
Than  fall  in  battle,  while  with  those  who  flee 
Is  neither  glory  nor  reprieve  from  death. 

— Bryant. 


318 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  6 

Sailing  was  now  dangerous.     Acts  27  :  9. 


9£u0t  Change  £Dur  tactics. 

(To  Mr.  Carpenter,  in  1864.) 

It  had  got  to  be  midsummer,  1862.  Things  had  gone  on  from 
bad  to  worse,  until  I  felt  that  we  had  reached  the  end  of  our  rope 
on  the  plan  of  operations  we  had  been  pursuing;  that  we  had 
about  played  our  last  card,  and  must  change  our  tactics  or  lose 
the  game!  I  now  determined  upon  the  adoption  of  the  emanci- 
pation policy,  and,  without  consultation  with,  or  the  knowledge 
of  the  Cabinet,  I  prepared  the  original  draft  of  the  proclamation, 
and,  after  much  anxious  thought,  called  a  Cabinet  meeting  upon 
the  subject.  This  was  the  last  of  July,  or  the  first  part  of  the 
month  of  August,  1862.  This  Cabinet  meeting  took  place,  I  think, 
upon  a  Saturday.  All  were  present  except  Mr.  Blair,  the  Post- 
master-General, who  was  absent  at  the  opening  of  the  discussion, 
but  came  in  subsequently.  I  said  to  the  Cabinet  that  I  had  re- 
solved upon  this  step,  and  had  not  called  them  together  to  ask 
their  advice,  but  to  lay  the  subject-matter  of  a  proclamation 
before  them;  suggestions  as  to  which  would  be  in  order,  after 
they  had  heard  it  read. 


Never  or  now  I  cries  the  blood  of  a  nation 

Poured  on  the  turf  where  the  red  rose  should  bloom. 

Now  is   the   day  and  the  hour  of  salvation; 
Never  or  now!  peals  the  trumpet  of  doom. 

— Holmes. 


319 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  7 

Who  hath  woe?  who  hath  sorrow?  who  hath  contentions?  .  .  .  who 
hath  wounds  without  cause?  who  hath  redness  of  eyes?  They  that  tarry 
long  at  the  wine.  Proverbs  23  :  29,  30. 


31  Sim  a  practical 

(Said  in  speeches  when  campaigning  in  Illinois  with 
Major  J.  B.  Merwin  in  1854-55,  for  Neal  Dow  State  Prohi- 
bition.) 

This  legalized  liquor  traffic,  as  carried  on  in  the  saloons  and 
grogshops,  is  the  tragedy  of  civilization.  Good  citizenship  de- 
mands and  requires  that  v/hat  is  right  should  not  only  be  made 
known,  but  be  made  prevalent;  that  what  is  evil  should  not  only 
be  detected  and  defeated,  but  destroyed.  The  saloon  has  proven 
itself  to  be  the  greatest  foe,  the  most  blighting  curse  of  our 
modern  civilization,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  I  am  a  practical 
Prohibitionist.  We  must  not  be  satisfied  until  the  public  senti- 
ment of  this  State  and  the  individual  conscience  shall  be  in- 
structed to  look  upon  the  saloon-keeper  and  the  liquor-seller,  with 
all  the  license  earth  can  give  him,  as  simply  and  only  a  privi- 
leged malefactor — a  criminal. 


Let  us  rise  in  holy  wrath,  Christian  soldiers, 
Crush  the  evil  'neath  the  heel  of  our  might! 

Counting  cost,  no   longer  wait, 

Forward,   manhood   of   the   stater 

For  in  God  our  strength  is  great 

For  the  right. 

— E.  8.  Lorenz. 


320 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  8 

The  vile  person  will  speak  villany,  and  his  heart  will  work  iniquity,  to 
practice  hypocrisy,  and  to  utter  error.     Isaiah  32  :  6. 


Bag*  &Uop  of 


(From  a  private  letter  written  in  1854.) 

I  acknowledge  your  rights  and  my  obligations  under  the  Con- 
stitution in  regard  to  your  slaves.  I  confess  I  hate  to  see  the 
poor  creatures  hunted  down  and  caught  and  carried  back  to  their 
stripes  and  unrequited  toil,  but  I  keep  quiet.  You  ought  to  appre- 
ciate how  much  the  great  body  of  the  people  of  the  North  crucify 
their  feelings  in  order  to  maintain  their  loyalty  to  the  Constitu- 
tion and  the  Union.  I  do  oppose  the  extension  of  slavery  because 
my  judgment  and  feelings  so  prompt  me,  and  I  am  under  no 
obligations  to  the  contrary.  As  a  nation  we  began  by  declaring, 
"All  men  are  created  equal."  We  now  practically  read  it,  "All 
men  are  created  equal  except  negroes."  When  it  comes  to  making 
wholesale  exceptions  I  should  prefer  emigrating  to  some  country 
where  they  make  no  pretense  of  loving  liberty,  where  despotism 
can  be  taken  pure  without  the  base  alloy  of  hypocrisy. 


It  matters  little  where  I   was   born, 

If  my   pa-rents   were   rich   or   poor; 
Whether   they   shrank   at   the   cold   world's   scorn, 

Or  walked  in  the  pride  of  wealth  secure; 
But   whether  I   live  an   honest  man, 

And  hold  my  integrity  firm  in  my  clutch, 
I  tell  you,  my  brother,  as  plain  as  I  am, 
It  matters  much! 

— Anonymous, 


321 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  0 

It  Is  not  expedient  for  me  doubtless  to  glory.     II.  Corinthians  12 : 1. 


j]2o  {taint  of 


(Extract  from  a  speech  at  a  serenade  by  a  club  of  Pennsyl- 
vanlans,  the  night  of  second  election,  November  9,  1864.) 

I  cannot  say  at  this  hour  what  has  been  the  result  of  the  elec- 
tion, but  whatever  it  may  have  been,  and  I  have  no  desire  to 
modify  this  opinion,  all  who  have  labored  to-day  in  behalf  of 
the  Union  organization  have  wrought  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  country  and  the  world,  not  only  for  the  present,  but  for  all 
future  ages.  I  am  thankful  to  God  for  the  approval  of  the  people  ; 
but  while  deeply  grateful  for  this  mark  of  their  confidence  in  me, 
if  I  know  my  heart,  my  gratitude  is  free  from  any  taint  of  per- 
sonal triumph.  I  do  not  impugn  the  motives  of  any  one  opposed 
to  me.  It  is  no  pleasure  to  me  to  triumph  over  any  one,  but  I 
give  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  the  evidences  of  the  people's 
resolution  to  stand  by  free  government  and  the  right  of  humanity. 


To   love  is  ever  to   ascend; 

Oh,  let  our  love,  like  thine, 
The  nation's  highest  good  attend, 

And  icith   thy   spirit  shine! 
Thus  shall  our  tribute  catch  from  thee 

Its   worthiest,   noblest,   best, 
And  one  united  country  see 

Thy  life's  divine   bequest. 

— Mary  M.  Adams. 


322 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  10 

Such  things  must  needs  be.     Mark  13  :  7. 


dltttion  a 

(From  a  response  to  a  serenade  by  the  various  Lincoln 
and  Johnson  clubs  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  November 
10,  1864.) 

It  has  long  been  a  grave  question  whether  any  government,  not 
too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  people,  can  be  strong  enough  to 
maintain  its  existence  in  great  emergencies.  On  this  point  the 
present  rebellion  brought  our  Government  to  a  severe  test,  and  a 
Presidential  election  occurring  in  a  regular  course  during  the  re- 
bellion added  not  a  little  to  the  strain.  If  the  loyal  people,  united, 
were  put  to  the  utmost  of  their  strength  by  the  rebellion,  must 
they  not  fail  when  divided  and  partially  paralyzed  by  a  political 
war  among  themselves?  But  the  election  was  a  necessity.  We 
cannot  have  free  government  without  elections;  and  if  the  rebel- 
lion could  force  us  to  forego  or  postpone  a  National  election,  it 
might  fairly  claim  to  have  already  conquered  and  ruined  us.  The 
strife  of  the  election  is  but  human  nature  practically  applied  to 
the  facts  of  the  case.  What  has  occurred  in  this  case  must  ever 
reoccur  in  similar  cases. 


When  a  patriot  falls,  must  he  fall  in  the  battle, 

Where  the  cannon's  loud  roar  is  his  only  death  rattlef 

There  's  a  warfare  where  none    but   the  morally   brarr 

Stand  nobly  and  firmly,  their  country  to  save 

'T  is  the  war  of  opinion,  where  few  can  be  found 

On  the  mountain  of  principle,  guarding  the  ground, 

With  vigilant  eyes  ever  watching  the  foes 

Who  are  prowling  around  them,  and  aiming  their  blows. 

— Mrs.  Dana. 


323 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER   11 

lie  strong,  all  ye  people  of  the  land,  saith  the  Lord,  and  work  :  for  I 
am  with  you,  salth  the  Lord  of  hosts,     llaggai  2  :  4. 


i?oto  &oun&  and  Strong 


(From  a  response  to  a  serenade  by  the  various  Lincoln 
and  Johnson  Clubs  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  November 
10,  1864.  Continued  from  pieceding  page.) 

Human  nature  will  not  change.  In  the  future  great  National 
trial,  compared  with  the  men  of  this,  we  shall  have  as  weak  and 
as  strong,  as  silly  and  as  wise,  as  bad  and  as  good.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, study  the  incidents  of  this  as  philosophy  to  learn  wisdom 
from,  and  none  of  them  as  wrongs  to  be  avenged.  But  the  elec- 
tion, along  with  its  incidents  and  undesirable  strife,  has  done 
good,  too.  It  has  demonstrated  that  a  people's  government  can 
sustain  a  national  election  in  the  midst  of  a  great  civil  war. 
Until  now  it  has  not  been  known  to  the  world  that  this  was  a 
possibility.  It  shows,  also,  how  sound  and  strong  we  are.  It 
shows  that  even  among  the  candidates  of  the  same  party,  he  who 
is  most  devoted  to  the  Union  and  most  opposed  to  treason  can 
receive  most  of  the  people's  votes.  It  shows,  also,  to  an  extent 
not  yet  known,  that  we  have  more  men  now  than  we  had  when 
the  war  began. 


United  in  one  common  purpose; 

Inspired    by   one  common   tie, 
Like  brothers   advance  them   together, 

Achieving  a  grand  destiny. 
Sweep  on  like  a  torrent,  resistless, 

To  purge   and   to   cleanse  in   thy  might — 
Corruption  in   arrogant  splendor 

Must  bend  to  the  law  and  the  right. 

— Silas  O.  Pratt. 


324 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  12 

I  will  make  a  man  more  precious  than  fine  gold.     Isaiah  13  : 12. 


Better  TO  an  (25olD. 


(From  a  response  to  a  serenade  by  the  various  Lincoln 
and  Johnson  clubs  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  November 
10,  1864.  Continued  from  preceding  page.) 

Gold  is  good  in  its  place;  but  living,  brave,  and  patriotic  men 
are  better  than  gold.  But  the  rebellion  continues,  and,  now  that 
the  election  is  over,  may  not  all  have  a  common  interest  to 
reunite  in  a  common  effort  to  save  our  common  country?  For  my 
own  part,  I  have  striven  and  shall  strive  to  avoid  placing  any 
obstacle  in  the  way.  So  long  as  I  have  been  here,  I  have  not 
willingly  planted  a  thorn  in  any  man's  bosom.  While  I  am  duly 
sensible  to  the  high  compliment  of  a  reelection,  and  duly  grateful, 
as  I  trust,  to  Almighty  God  for  having  directed  my  countrymen 
to  a  right  conclusion,  as  I  think,  for  their  good,  it  adds  nothing 
to  my  satisfaction  that  any  other  man  may  be  disappointed  by  the 
result.  May  I  ask  those  who  have  not  differed  with  me  to  join 
with  me  in  this  same  spirit  to  those  who  have? 


Good  friends  are  better  than  gold! 
I  find  it  sweet  as  I  grow  old 
To  prove  in  you  this  happy  truth 
To  which  I   held  in  early  youth, 
And  having  proved,  shall  ever  hold: 
Good  friends  are  better  than  fine  gold! 

— Miss  Grannis. 


325 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  13 

I  am  doing  a  great  work,  so  that  I  cannot  come  down  :  why  should  the 
work  cease,  whilst  I  leave  it,  and  come  down  to  you  ?     Nehemiah  6 :  3. 


(To  a  farmer  who  went  to  the  President  complaining  that 
Union  soldiers  in  passing  his  place  had  taken  his  hay  and 
horse,  and  wanted  his  claim  considered  immediately.) 

Why,  my  good  sir,  if  I  should  attempt  to  consider  every  such 
individual  case  I  should  find  work  for  twenty  Presidents!  In  my 
early  days  I  knew  one,  Jack  Chase,  who  was  a  lumberman  on  the 
Illinois,  and,  when  steady  and  sober,  the  best  raftsman  on  the 
river.  It  was  quite  a  trick  twenty-five  years  ago  to  take  the  logs 
over  the  rapids,  but  he  was  skillful  with  a  raft,  and  always  kept 
her  straight  in  the  channel.  Finally  a  steamer  was  put  on,  and 
Jack — he's  dead  now,  poor  fellow! — was  made  captain  of  her. 
He  always  used  to  take  the  wheel  going  through  the  rapids.  One 
day,  when  the  boat  was  plunging  and  wallowing  along  the  boiling 
current,  and  Jack's  utmost  vigilance  was  being  exercised  to  keep 
her  in  the  narrow  channel,  a  boy  pulled  his  coat-tail  and  hailed 
him  with,  "Say,  Mister  Captain!  I  wish  you  would  just  stop  your 
boat  a  minute — I  've  lost  my  apple  overboard." 


He  is  so  full  of  pleasant  anecdote, 
So  rich,  so  gay,  so  poignant  in  his  wit, 
Time   vanishes  before  him  as  he  speaks, 
And  ruddy  morning  through  the  lattice  peeps. 

—Miss  Baillie. 


326 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  14 

The  blueness  of  a  wound  cleanseth  away  evil.     Proverbs  20 :  30. 


(In  reply  to  a  charge  made  in  the  campaign  of  1840  by 
Colonel  Dick  Taylor,  a  Democrat,  that  the  Whigs  were  lords 
and  aristocrats.  Lincoln  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  the 
Illinois  Legislature.) 

I  was  a  very  poor  boy,  hired  on  a  flatboat  at  eight  dollars  a 
month,  and  had  only  one  pair  of  breeches,  and  they  were  buck- 
skin; and  if  you  know  the  nature  of  buckskin  when  wet,  and 
dried  by  the  sun — they  shrink,  and  mine  kept  shrinking  until 
they  left  several  inches  of  my  legs  bare  between  the  tops  of  my 
socks  and  the  lower  part  of  my  breeches;  and  whilst  I  was  grow- 
ing taller  they  were  becoming  shorter,  and  so  much  tighter  that 
they  left  a  blue  streak  around  my  legs  that  can  be  seen  to  this 
day.  If  you  call  this  aristocracy,  I  plead  guilty  to  the  charge. 


The  man   who  sped  the  woodman's  team, 
And  deepest  sunk  the  plowman's  share, 

And  pushed  the  laden  raft  astream, 
Of  fate  before  him  unaware — 

This  was  the  hand  that  knew  to  swing 
The  ax — since  thus  would  Freedom  train 

Her  son — and  made  the  forest  ring, 

And  drove  the  wedge,  and  toiled  amain. 

— Edmund  Clarence  Stedman. 


327 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  15 

Find  out  knowledge  of  witty  inventions.     Proverbs  8 :  12. 


abutment  on 

(An  illustration  concerning  the  breach  between  the  North- 
ern  and   Southern  wings  of   the   Democratic   party.) 

I  once  knew  a  sound  churchman  by  the  name  of  Brown,  who 
was  a  member  of  a  very  sober  and  pious  committee  having  in 
charge  the  erection  of  a  bridge  over  a  dangerous  and  rapid  river. 
Several  architects  failed,  and  at  last  Brown  said  he  had  a  friend 
named  Jones  who  had  built  several  bridges  and  undoubtedly  could 
build  that  one.  So  Mr.  Jones  was  called  in.  "Can  you  build  this 
bridge?"  inquired  the  committee.  "Yes,"  replied  Jones,  "or  any 
other.  I  could  build  a  bridge  to  the  infernal  regions,  if  neces- 
sary!" The  committee  were  shocked,  and  Brown  felt  called  upon 
to  defend  his  friend.  "I  know  Jones  so  well,"  said  he,  "and  he  is 
so  honest  a  man  and  so  good  an  architect,  that  if  he  states  soberly 
and  positively  that  he  can  build  a  bridge  to — to — ,  why,  I  believe 
it;  but  I  feel  bound  to  say  that  I  have  my  doubts  about  the  abut- 
ment on  the  infernal  side."  So  when  the  politicians  told  me  that 
the  Northern  and  Southern  wings  of  Democracy  could  be  harmon- 
ized, why,  I  believed  them,  of  course;  but  I  always  had  my  doubts 
about  the  "abutment"  on  the  other  side. 


With  short  plummets  Heaven's  deep  well  we  sound, 
That  vast  abyss  where  human  wit  is  droicn'd; 
In   our  small  skiff  we  must  not  launch  too  far — 
We  here  liut  coasters,  not  discoverers,  are. 

Drnden . 


328 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  16 

Six  days  may  work  be  done ;  but  In  the  seventh  is  the  sabbath  of  rest, 
holy   to  the  Lord.      Exodus  31 :  15. 


€>6gerbance  ot  t&e  fea&fcatl). 

(The  following  order  was  issued  November  16,   1862.) 

The  President,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy, 
desires  and  enjoins  the  orderly  observance  of  the  Sabbath  by  the 
officers  and  men  in  the  military  and  naval  service.  The  impor- 
tance for  man  and  beast  of  the  prescribed  weekly  rest,  the  sacred 
rights  of  Christian  soldiers  and  sailors,  a  becoming  deference  to 
the  best  sentiment  of  a  Christian  people,  and  a  due  regard  for  the 
Divine  Will,  demand  that  Sunday  labor  in  the  army  and  navy  be 
reduced  to  the  measure  of  strict  necessity.  The  discipline  and 
character  of  the  National  forces  should  not  suffer,  nor  the  cause 
they  defend  be  imperiled  by  the  profanation  of  the  day  or  name 
of  the  Most  High.  "At  this  time  of  public  distress,"  adopting  the 
words  of  Washington  in  1776,  "men  may  find  enough  to  do  in  the 
service  of  God  and  their  country  without  abandoning  themselves 
to  vice  and  immorality."  The  first  general  order  issued  by  the 
Father  of  his  Country,  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
indicates  the  spirit  in  which  our  institutions  were  founded,  and 
should  ever  be  defended.  "The  general  hopes  and  trusts  that 
every  officer  and  man  will  endeavor  to  live  and  act  as  becomes  a 
Christian  soldier  defending  the  dearest  rights  and  liberties  of  his 
country." 


A   Sabbath  well  spent 

Rrinffs   a  week  of  content, 
And  plenty  of  health  for  to-morrow. 

Hut  a  Sabbath  profaned, 

Aro  matter  ichat  's  gained, 
/«  a  certain  forerunner  of  sorrow. 

— Anonymous. 


329 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER   17 

There  Is  no  wrong  in  mine  hands.     I.  Chronicles  12 :  17. 


of  $®y  Snttntiong. 


(Said  in  an  interview,  November,  1860.) 

I  know  the  justness  of  my  intentions,  and  the  utter  groundless- 
ness of  the  pretended  fears  of  the  men  who  are  filling  the  country 
with  their  clamor.  If  I  go  into  the  Presidency,  they  will  find  me 
as  I  am  on  record,  nothing  less,  nothing  more.  My  declarations 
have  been  made  to  the  world  without  reservation.  They  have 
been  often  repeated,  and  now  self-respect  demands  of  me  and  the 
party  which  has  elected  me  that,  when  threatened,  I  should  be 
silent. 


The  state  is  out  of  time;  distracting  fears 
And  jealous  doubts  jar  in  our  public  counsels; 
Amid  the  wealthy  city,  murmurs  rise, 
Loud  railings  and  reproach  on  those  that  rule, 
With,  open  scorn   of  government;   hence  credit 
And  public  trust  'twixt  man  and  man  are  broke, 
The  golden  streams  of  commerce  are  withheld 
Which    fed   the   icants  of  needy   hinds  and   artisans, 
Who  therefore  curse  the  great  and  threat  rebellion. 

— Rowe. 


330 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER    18 

I   have    .    .    .   used  similitudes.     Hosea  12 : 10. 


&mmaI0. 

(Related  to  some  gentlemen  in  1862,  who  thought  the 
interests  of  the  country  required  an  entire  reconstruction  of 
the  Cabinet,  Mr.  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War,  having  already 
resigned. ) 

Gentlemen,  when  I  was  a  young  man  I  used  to  know  very  well 
one  Joe  Wilson,  who  built  himself  a  log  cabin  not  far  from  where 
I  lived.  Joe  was  very  fond  of  eggs  and  chickens,  and  he  took  a 
good  deal  of  pains  in  fitting  up  a  poultry  shed.  Having  at  length 
got  together  a  choice  lot  of  young  fowls — of  which  he  was  very 
proud — he  began  to  be  very  much  annoyed  by  the  depredation  of 
those  little  black  and  white  spotted  animals,  which  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  name.  One  night  Joe  was  awakened  by  an  unusual  cack- 
ling and  fluttering  among  his  chickens.  Getting  up,  he  crept  out 
to  see  what  was  going  on.  It  was  a  moonlight  night,  and  he  soon 
caught  sight  of  half  a  dozen  of  the  little  pests,  which  with  their 
dam  were  running  in  and  out  of  the  shadow  of  the  shed.  Very 
wrathy,  Joe  put  a  double  charge  into  his  old  musket  and  thought 
he  would  "clean"  out  the  whole  tribe  at  one  shot.  Somehow  he 
only  killed  one,  and  the  balance  scampered  off  across  the  field. 
In  telling  the  story,  Joe  would  always  pause  here  and  hold  his 
nose.  "Why  didn't  you  follow  them  up  and  kill  the  rest?"  in- 
quired the  neighbors.  "Blast  it,"  said  Joe,  "why,  it  was  eleven 
weeks  before  I  got  over  killing  one.  If  you  want  any  more  skir- 
mishing in  that  line  you  can  just  do  it  yourselves." 


A  tale  should  be  judicious,  clear,  succinct; 
The   language  plain,   and  incidents   well   link'd; 
Tell  not  as  new   what  everybody  knows, 
And,  new  or  old,  hasten  to  a  close: 
There,  cent' ring  in   a  focus  round  and  neat, 
Let  all  your  rays   of   information  meet. 

— Cowper. 

331 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  10 

Of  a  truth   many  houses  shall  be  desolate.     Isaiah  5 :  9. 


and  ^ome 0  $tt  to  br 

(Said  on  his  way  to  the  Gettysburg  National  Cemetery,  No- 
vember 19,  1863,  to  an  old  gentleman  going  to  visit  the 
grave  of  an  only  son  who  was  killed  there.  See  Gettysburg 
address,  May  30.) 

You  have  been  called  on  to  make  a  terrible  sacrifice  for  the 
Union,  and  a  visit  to  that  spot,  I  fear,  will  open  your  wounds 
afresh.  But,  oh,  my  dear  sir,  if  we  had  reached  the  end  of  such 
sacrifices,  and  had  nothing  left  for  us  to  do  but  to  place  garlands 
on  the  graves  of  those  who  have  already  fallen,  we  could  give 
thanks  even  amidst  our  tears;  but  when  I  think  of  the  sacrifices 
of  life  yet  to  be  offered,  and  the  hearts  and  homes  yet  to  be  made 
desolate  before  this  dreadful  war  is  over,  my  heart  is  like  lead 
within  me,  and  I  feel  at  times  like  hiding  in  the  deep  darkness. 


O  Gettysburg!  thy  living  dead 

Speak  still  across  the  years, 
And  by  their  voice  our  hearts  are  led 

Above  all  passing  fears! 
But  keep,  O  hills !  one  record  true 

And  one  great   captain's   name! 
Oh,  then  shall  all  men  look  to  you 

For  nation's   deathless   fame. 

— Mary  M.  Adams. 


332 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  20 

Let    brotherly    love   continue.      Hebrews    13 :  1. 


16t0t|jit0  of  a  Common  Country 

(Said  at  a  political   meeting  at   Springfield,   Illinois,   No- 
vember 20,  1860,  where  there  was  rejoicing  over  the  Novem-  * 
ber  election.) 

I  rejoice  with  you  in  the  success  which  has  so  far  attended  the 
Republican  cause,  yet  in  all  our  rejoicing  let  us  neither  express 
nor  cherish  any  hard  feelings  toward  any  citizen  who  by  his  vote 
differed  with  us.  Let  us  at  all  times  remember  that  all  American 
citizens  are  brothers  of  a  common  country,  and  should  dwell 
together  in  the  bonds  of  fraternal  feeling. 


Land   of  the   forest   <md  the  rock, 
Of   dark   blue   lake  and  mighty  river, 
Of  mountains  reared  on  high  to  mock 
The  storm's  career  and  lightning  shock, 

My  own  green  land  forever! 
Oh,  never  may  a  son  of  thine, 
Where'er   his   wandering   feet  incline, 
Forget  the  sky   that  bent  above 
His  childhood  like  a  dream  of  love! 

— Whittier. 


333 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  21 

I  have  lost  my  children,  and  am  desolate.     Isaiah  49 :  21. 


&  Cogtlp  Sacrifice. 

(Letter    written    November    21,    1864,    to   Mrs.    Bixby,    a 
widow,  of  Boston,  who  lost  five  sons  in  the  war.) 

I  have  been  shown,  in  the  files  of  the  War  Department,  a  state- 
ment of  the  Adjutant-General  of  Massachusetts,  that  you  are  the 
mother  of  five  sons  who  have  died  gloriously  on  the  field  of 
battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and  fruitless  must  be  any  words  of  mine 
which  should  attempt  to  beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so 
overwhelming;  but  I  cannot  refrain  from  tendering  to  you  the 
consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks  of  the  Republic  they 
died  to  save.  I  pray  that  our  Heavenly  Father  may  assuage  the 
anguish  of  your  bereavement,  and  leave  you  only  the  cherished 
memory  of  the  loved  and  lost,  and  the  solemn  pride  that  must  be 
yours  to  have  laid  so  costly  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 


Lord,  be  thou  near  and  cheer  my  lonely  way; 

With  thy  sweet  peace  my  aching  bosom  fill; 
Scatter  my  cares  and  fears,  my  griefs  allay, 
And  be  it  mine  each  day 

To  love  and  please  thee  still. 

— Pierre  Corneille. 


334 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  22 

Now  also  when  I  am  old  and  grey-headed,  O  God  forsake  me  not ;  until 
I  have  shewed  thy  strength  unto  this  generation.     Psalms  71 : 18. 


Beyond  tlje  Psalnu0t'«3  Smuts. 

(Letter  written  November  21,  1864,  to  Deacon  John  Phil- 
lips, one  hundred  and  four  years  old.) 

I  have  heard  of  the  incident  at  the  polls,  in  your  town,  in 
which  you  acted  so  honorable  a  part,  and  I  take  the  liberty  of 
writing  to  you  to  express  my  personal  gratitude  for  the  compli- 
ment paid  me  by  the  suffrage  of  a  citizen  so  venerable.  The 
example  of  such  devotion  to  civic  duties,  in  one  whose  days  have 
already  been  extended  an  average  lifetime  beyond  the  psalmist's 
limits,  cannot  but  be  valuable  and  fruitful.  It  is  not  for  myself 
only,  but  for  the  country  which  you  have,  in  your  sphere,  served 
so  long  and  so  well,  that  I  thank  you. 


E'en   down  to  old  age,  all  my  people  shall  prove 
MM  grave  is  eternal,  unbounded  my  love; 
And  ichen  hoary  hairs  shall  their  temples  adorn, 
Like  lambs  they  shall  stilt  in  my  bosom  be  borne. 

— Kennedy. 


33* 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  23 

Thy    merchants   were   the   great    men   of   the    earth.      Revelation    18 : 23. 


Open. 

(To  Mr.  F.   B.  Carpenter,  in  1864.) 

Great  men  have  various  estimates.  When  Daniel  Webster  made 
his  tour  through  the  West,  years  ago,  he  visited  Springfield  among 
other  places,  where  great  preparations  were  made  to  receive  him. 
As  the  procession  was  going  through  the  town,  a  barefooted  little 
darky  boy  pulled  the  sleeve  of  a  man  named  T.,  and  asked  what 
the  folks  were  all  doing  down  the  street.  "Why,  Jack,"  was  the 
reply,  "the  biggest  man  in  the  world  is  coming."  Now  there  lived 
in  Springfield  a  man  by  the  name  of  G.,  a  very  corpulent  man. 
Jack  darted  off  down  the  street,  but  presently  returned  with  a 
very  disappointed  air.  "Well,  did  you  see  him?"  inquired  T. 
"Ye-es,"  returned  Jack,  "but  laws — he  hain't  half  as  big  as  old  G." 


How   big   was  Alexander,  pa, 

That  people  call   Mm   great  f 
Was  he  like  Ooliath  tallf 

His  spear  a  hundredweight  t 

Was  he  so  large  that  he  could  stand 

Like  some  tall  steeple  high, 
And  while  his  feet  were  on  the  ground, 

His  hand  could  touch  the  skyf 

Oh,  no,  my  child:   about  as   large 

As  I  or  Uncle  James; 
'T  was  not  his  stature  made  him  great, 

But  the  greatness  of  his  name. 

— Anonymous. 


336 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER   24    (Thanksgiviitg    Day) 

Thou  crownest  the  year  with  thy  goodness.     Psalms  65  :  11. 


&n0t&er  gear  of 

(From  Thanksgiving  Proclamation,  issued  October  20,  1864.) 

It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  prolong  our  National  life 
another  year,  defending  us  with  his  guardian  care  against  un- 
friendly designs  from  abroad  and  vouchsafing  to  us  in  his  mercy 
many  and  signal  victories  over  the  enemy,  who  is  of  our  own 
household.  It  has  also  pleased  our  Heavenly  Father  to  favor  as 
well  our  citizens  in  their  homes  as  our  soldiers  in  their  camps, 
and  our  sailors  on  the  rivers  and  seas,  with  unusual  health.  He 
has  largely  augmented  our  free  population  by  emancipation  and 
by  immigration,  while  he  has  opened  to  us  new  sources  of  wealth, 
and  has  crowned  the  labor  of  our  workingmen  in  every  depart- 
ment of  industry  with  abundant  rewards.  Moreover,  he  has 
been  pleased  to  animate  and  inspire  our  minds  and  hearts  with 
fortitude,  courage,  and  resolution  sufficient  for  the  great  trial  of 
civil  war  into  which  we  had  been  brought  by  our  adherence  as  a 
Nation  to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  humanity,  and  to  afford  to  us 
reasonable  hopes  of  an  ultimate  and  happy  deliverance  from  all 
our  dangers  and  afflictions.  Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  appoint  and  set  apart 
the  last  Thursday  in  November  next  as  a  day  which  I  desire  to  be 
observed  by  all  my  fellow-citizens,  wherever  they  may  be,  as  a 
day  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  Almighty  God,  the  beneficent 
Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe. 


God  of  our  fathers,  known  of  old — 
Lord  of  our  farflung  battle  line — 

Beneath  whose  awful  hand  ice  hold 
Dominion   over   palm   and   pine — 

Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 

Lest   ice   forget — lest  we   forget. 

— Rudyard  Kipling. 


337 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  25 

I  perceive  that  this  voyage  will  be  with  hurt  and  much  damage,  not 
only  of  the  lading  and  ship,  but  also  of  our  lives.     Acts  27  :  10. 


a 

(To  Governor  Morgan,  of  New  York,  in   1863.) 

We  are  a  good  deal  like  whalers  who  have  been  long  on  a  chase. 
At  last  we  have  got  our  harpoon  fairly  into  the  monster;  but  we 
must  now  look  how  we  steer,  or  with  one  flop  of  his  tail  he  will 
yet  send  us  all  into  eternity. 

(Said  to  Commissioner  Dole  as  to  his  chances  for  reelec- 
tion, after  calling  for  500,000  more  men  in  1864.) 

It  matters  not  what  becomes  of  me,  we  must  have  the  men! 
If  I  go  down,  I  intend  to  go  like  the  Cumberland,  with  my  colors 
flying! 


There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men 

Which  taken  at  the  flood  leads  on  to  fortune; 

Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 

Is  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries. 

On  such  a  full  sea  are  ice  now  afloat, 

And  we  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves. 

Or  lose  our  ventures. 

— Shakespeare. 


338 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  26 

When  they  have  a  matter,   they   come   unto  me.     Exodus  18  :  16. 


SDimt  Contact  flfllitf)  tfje  People. 

(To  Colonel  Charles  G.  Halpine,  on  one  of  the  President's 
public  days.) 

The  office  of  President  is  essentially  a  civil  one.  I  feel — though 
the  tax  on  my  time  is  heavy — that  no  hours  of  my  day  are  better 
employed  than  those  which  thus  bring  me  again  within  the  direct 
contact  and  atmosphere  of  the  average  of  our  whole  people.  Men 
moving  only  in  an  official  circle  are  apt  to  become  merely  official 
— not  to  say  arbitrary — in  their  ideas,  and  are  apter  and  apter, 
with  each  passing  day,  to  forget  that  only  they  hold  power  in  a 
representative  capacity.  Now  this  is  all  wrong.  I  go  into  these 
promiscuous  receptions  of  all  who  claim  to  have  business  with 
me  twice  each  week,  and  every  applicant  for  audience  has  to  take 
his  turn,  as  if  waiting  to  be  shaved  in  a  barber's  shop. 


Proudest    of   all   earth's   thrones 

Is  his  who  rules  by  a  free  people's  choice; 

Who,  'midst  fierce  party  strife  and  battle-groans, 

Hears,  ever  rising  in  harmonious  tones, 
A  grateful  people's  voice. 

Steadfast  in  thee  we  trust, 

Tried  a$  no  man  icas  ever  tried  before; 
Ood  made  thee  merciful — God  keep  thee  just; 
Be  true! — and  triumph  over  all  thou  must, 

Ood  bless  thee  evermore. 

— Anonymous. 


339 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  27 

Without   counsel   purposes   are   disappointed :    but   in   the   multitude  of 
counsellors  they  are  established.     Proverbs  15  :  22. 


Perception^  of  Bt  spousibilttp  and  SDtttp. 

(To  Colonel  Charles  G.  Halpine.     Continued  from  preced- 
ing page.) 

Many  of  the  matters  brought  to  my  notice  are  utterly  frivolous, 
but  others  are  more  or  less  of  importance,  and  all  serve  to  renew 
in  me  a  clearer  and  more  vivid  image  of  that  great  popular 
assemblage  out  of  which  I  sprung,  and  to  which  at  the  end  of  two 
years  I  must  return.  ...  I  call  these  receptions  my  "public- 
opinion  baths" ;  for  I  have  but  little  time  to  read  the  papers  and 
gather  public  opinion  that  way;  and  though  they  may  not  be 
pleasant  in  all  their  particulars,  the  effect,  as  a  whole,  is  reno- 
vating and  invigorating  to  my  perceptions  of  responsibility  and 
duty. 


Wherever  in  the  world,  I  am, 

In  whatsoe'er  estate, 
I  have  a  fellowship  with  hearts 

To   keep   and  cultivate; 
And  a  work  of  lowly  love  to  do 

For  the  Lord  on  whom  I  wait. 

So  I  ask  Thee  for  the  daily  strength. 

To  none  that  ask  denied; 
And  a  mind  to  blend  with  outward  life 

While  keeping  at  thy  side, 
Content  to  fill  a  little  space 

If  thou  be  glorified. 

— Anna  L.  Warring. 


340 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  28 

The  smith  with  the  tongs  both  worketh  in  the  coals,  and  fashioneth  it 
with  hammers.     Isaiah  44  :  12. 


(Said  to  General  Grant  as  they  were  inspecting  the  Dutch 
Gap  Canal  at  City  Point.) 

Grant,  do  you  know  what  this  reminds  me  of?    Out  in  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  there  was  a  blacksmith  named  .    One  day,  not 

having  much  to  do,  he  took  a  piece  of  soft  iron  and  attempted  to 
weld  it  into  an  agricultural  implement,  but  discovered  that  the 
iron  would  not  hold  out;  then  he  concluded  it  would  make  a 
claw-hammer,  but,  having  too  much  iron,  attempted  to  make  an  ax, 
but  decided  after  working  awhile  that  there  was  not  enough  iron 
left.  Finally,  becoming  disgusted,  he  filled  the  forge  full  of  coal 
and  brought  the  iron  to  a  white  heat;  then  with  his  tongs  he 
lifted  it  from  the  bed  of  coals,  and,  thrusting  it  into  a  tub  of 
water  near  by,  exclaimed  with  an  oath,  "Well,  if  I  can't  make 
anything  out  of  you,  I  will  make  a  fizzle,  anyhow."  I  am  afraid 
that  is  about  what  we  have  done  with  the  Dutch  Gap  Canal. 


But  't  is  some  justice  to  ascribe  to  chance 
The  icrongs  you  must  expect  from  ignorance: 
None  can  the  molds  of  their  creation  choose, 
We  therefore  should  men's  ignorance  excuse 
When  born  too  low  to  reach  at  things  sublime: 
'T  is  rather  their  misfortune  than  their  crime. 

— Sir.   W.   Davenant. 


341 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  29 

A  man    .    .    .   skilful  to  work    .    .    .    and  to  find  out  every  device  which 
shall  be  put  to  him.     II.  Chronicles  2  :  14. 


Si  patmt'Rig&t  Cage. 


(To  a  skilled  architect  in  Springfield,   Illinois.) 

I  have  a  patent-right  case  in  court;  I  want  you  as  a  partner, 
and  will  divide  fees.  I  know  nothing  about  mechanics — never 
made  it  a  study.  I  want  you  to  make  a  list  of  the  best  works  on 
mechanism,  as  I  don't  suppose  they  can  be  purchased  here.  I 
will  furnish  the  money,  and  you  can  send  to  Chicago  or  New 
York  for  them.  I  want  you  to  come  to  my  house  one  night  each 
week  and  give  me  instruction. 


Men  of  thought!  be  up  and  stirring 

Night  and  day: 
Sow  the  seed — withdraw  the  curtain — 

Clear  the  way! 
Men   of  action,  aid  and  cheer  them, 

As  ye  may  I 

There  's  a  fount  about  to  stream, 
There  's  a  light  about  to  beam, 
There  '8  a  warmth  about  to  glow, 
There  's  a  flower  about  to  blow: 
There  's  a  midnight  blackness  changing 

Into  gray; 
Men  of  thought  and  men  of  action, 

Clear   the   way! 

— Charles  Mackay. 


342 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


NOVEMBER  30 

Let  them  take  a  lump  of  figs,  and  lay  it  for  a  plaster  upon  the  boll, 
and  he  shall  recover.     Isaiah  38 :  21. 


Si  Cure  for 

(To  Mr.  Blair,  Postmaster-General.) 

Blair,  did  you  know  that  fright  has  sometimes  proven  a  cure 

for  boils?     Not  long  ago,  when  Colonel  ,  with  his  cavalry, 

was  at  the  front  and  the  Rebs  were  making  things  rather  lively 
for  us,  the  Colonel  was  ordered  out  to  a  reconnoissance.  He  was 
troubled  at  the  time  with  a  big  boil  where  it  made  horseback 
riding  decidedly  uncomfortable.  He  finally  dismounted  and 
ordered  the  troops  forward  without  him.  Soon  he  was  startled 
by  the  rapid  reports  of  pistols,  and  the  helter-skelter  approach  of 
his  troops  in  full  retreat  before  a  yelling  rebel  force.  He  forgot 
everything  but  the  yells,  sprang  into  his  saddle,  and  made  capital 
time  over  the  fences  and  ditches  till  safe  within  the  lines.  The 
pain  from  the  boil  was  gone,  and  the  boil,  too,  and  the  Colonel 
swore  that  there  was  no  cure  for  boils  so  sure  as  fright  from 
rebel  yells. 


They  talk  of  short-liv'd  pleasure — be  it  so — 
Pain  dies  as  quickly;  stern  hard-featur'd  pain 

Expires,  and  lets  her  weary  prisoner  go. 
The  fiercest  agonies  have  shortest  reign. 

— BryanU 


343 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  1 

Remember   this,    and   show    yourselves   men.      Isaiah    46 : 8. 


Cannot 

(Extract    from   the   second    annual    message   to   Congress, 
December  1,  1862.) 

We  cannot  escape  history.  We  of  this  Congress  and  the  admin- 
istration will  be  remembered  in  spite  of  ourselves.  No  personal 
significance  can  spare  one  or  another  of  us.  The  fiery  trial 
through  which  we  pass  will  light  us  down,  in  honor  or  dishonor, 
to  the  latest  generation.  We  say  we  are  for  the  Union.  The 
world  will  not  forget  that  we  say  this.  We  know  how  to  save  the 
Union.  The  world  knows  we  do  know  how  to  save  it.  We — even 
we  here — hold  the  power  and  bear  the  responsibility.  In  giving 
freedom  to  the  slave  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free — honorable 
alike  in  what  we  give  and  what  we  preserve.  We  shall  nobly 
save  or  meanly  lose  the  last  best  hope  of  earth. 


For  humanity  sweeps  onward;  where  to-day  the  marti/r  stands, 
On  the  morrow  crouches  Judas  icith  the  silver  in  his  hands; 
Far  in  front  the  cross  stands  ready  and  the  crackling  fagots  burn, 
While  the  hooting  mob  of  yesterday  in  silent  awe  return 
To  glean  up  the  scattered  ashes  into  History's  golden  urn. 

— James  Russell  Lowell. 


214 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  2 

Every   plant,    which   my   heavenly    Father   hath    not   planted,    shall    be 
rooted  up.     Matthew  15  :  13. 


Broton. 

(From  the  Cooper  Institute  speech,  New  York  City,  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1860.  John  Brown  was  executed  December  2, 
1859.) 

John  Brown's  effort  was  peculiar.  It  was  not  slave  insurrec- 
tion. It  was  an  attempt  by  white  men  to  get  up  a  revolt  among 
slaves,  in  which  the  slaves  refused  to  participate.  In  fact,  it  was 
so  absurd  that  the  slaves,  with  all  their  ignorance,  saw  plainly 
enough  that  it  could  not  succeed.  That  affair,  in  its  philosophy, 
corresponds  with  the  many  attempts  related  in  history  at  the 
assassination  of  kings  and  emperors.  An  enthusiast  broods  over 
the  oppression  of  a  people  till  he  fancies  himself  commissioned 
by  heaven  to  liberate  them.  He  ventures  the  attempt,  which  ends 
in  little  else  than  his  own  execution. 


Against  this  crime  of  crimes  he  fought  and  fell; 
He  freed  a  race  and  found  a  prison  cell; 
In  mid-air  hung  upon  the  gibbet's  tree, 
But  lived  and  died,  thank  God,  to  make  men  free. 
And  dusky  men  the  ages  down  will  tell 
For  what  he  fought,  and  how  he  bravely  fell; 
And  dim  the  jewels  in  each  earthly  crown, 
Ticside  the  luster  of  thy  name,  John  Brown. 

— Joseph  O.  Waters. 


345 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  3 

Tbou  shalt  eat  the  labour  of  thine  hands :  happy  shalt  thou  be,  and  it 
shall  be  well  with  thee.     Psalms  128  :  2. 


H  (Bcnercus  and  prosperous  Astern. 

(From  the  first  annual  message  to  Congress,  December  3,  1861.) 

There  is  not  of  necessity  any  such  thing  as  the  free  hired 
laborer  being  fixed  to  that  condition  for  life.  Many  independent 
men  everywhere  in  these  States,  a  few  years  back  in  their  lives, 
were  hired  laborers.  The  prudent,  penniless  beggar  in  the  world 
labors  for  wages  awhile,  saves  a  surplus  with  which  to  buy  tools 
or  land  for  himself,  then  labors  on  his  own  account  another  while, 
and  at  length  hires  another  beginner  to  help  him.  This  is  the 
just  and  generous  and  prosperous  system,  which  opens  the  way 
to  all,  gives  hope  to  all,  and  consequent  energy  and  progress  and 
improvement  of  condition  to  all. 


Here,  brothers,  secure  from  all  turmoil  and  danger, 
We  reap  what  we  soiv,  for  the  soil  is  our  own. 

We  spread  Hospitality's  board  for  the  stranger 
And  care  not  a  fig  for  the  king  on  his  throne; 

We  never  know  want,  for  ice  live  by  our  labor, 
And  in  it  contentment  and  happiness  find. 

— George  P.  Morris, 


346 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  4 

Changes  and   war  are  against  me.     Job   10 : 17. 


&tart  a  Public  Sentiment. 

(Said  to  Senator  Clark,  of  New  Hampshire,  as  the  day  of 
his  second  inauguration  approached.) 

Can't  you  and  others  start  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  mak- 
ing no  changes  in  offices  except  for  good  and  sufficient  cause?  It 
seems  as  though  the  bare  thought  of  going  through  again  what 
I  did  the  first  year  here,  would  crush  me. 

(To  another  he  said:) 

I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  make  very  few  changes  in  the 
offices  in  my  gift  for  my  second  term.  I  think  now  that  I  will  not 
remove  a  single  man  except  for  delinquency.  To  remove  a  man  is 
very  easy,  but  when  I  go  to  fill  his  place,  there  are  twenty  appli- 
cants, and  of  these  I  must  make  nineteen  enemies. 

(To  another:) 

Sitting  here,  where  all  the  avenues  to  public  patronage  seem  to 
come  together  in  a  knot,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  our  people  are 
fast  approaching  the  point  where  it  can  be  said  that  seven-eighths 
of  them  are  trying  to  find  how  to  live  at  the  expense  of  the  other 
eighth. 


Be  still,  sad  heart!  and  cease  repining; 
Behind  the  clouds  is  the  sun  still  shining; 
Thy  fate  is  the  common  fate  of  all, 
Into  each  life  some  rain  must  fall, 

Some  days  must  be  dark  and  dreary. 

— Longfellow. 


347 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  5 

Money  answereth  all  things.     Eccleslastes  10  : 19. 


ct  t&e  C5mnbacfe. 

(To  colonel  Edmund  D.  Taylor,  of  Chicago,   Illinois,   De- 
cember, 1864.) 

I  have  long  determined  to  make  public  the  origin  of  the  green- 
back, and  tell  the  world  that  it  is  one  of  Dick  Taylor's  creations. 
You  have  always  been  friendly  to  me,  and  when  troublous  times 
fell  upon  us,  and  my  shoulders,  though  broad  and  willing,  were 
weak  and  myself  surrounded  by  such  circumstances  and  such 
people  that  I  knew  not  whom  to  trust,  then  I  said  in  my  extrem- 
ity, "I  will  send  for  Colonel  Taylor;  he  will  know  what  to  do." 
I  think  it  was  in  January,  1862,  on  or  about  the  16th,  that  I  did 
so.  You  came,  and  I  said  to  you,  "What  shall  we  do?"  Said  you, 
"Why,  issue  treasury  notes  bearing  no  interest,  printed  on  the 
best  banking  paper.  Issue  enough  to  pay  off  the  army  expenses, 
and  declare  it  a  legal  tender."  Chase  thought  it  a  hazardous 
thing,  but  we  finally  accomplished  it,  and  gave  to  the  people  of 
this  Republic  the  greatest  blessing  they  ever  had — their  own 
paper  to  pay  off  their  own  debts.  It  is  due  to  you,  the  father  of 
the  present  greenback,  that  the  people  should  know  it,  and  I  take 
great  pleasure  in  making  it  known.  How  many  times  I  have 
laughed  at  you  telling  me  plainly  that  I  was  too  lazy  to  be  any- 
thing but  a  lawyer. 


Green  be  thy  back  upon  thee! 

Thou  pledge  of  happier  days, 
When  bloody-handed  treason 

No  more  its  head  shall  raise; 
Pledge  of  the  people's  credit, 

To  carry  on  the  war 
By  furnishing  the  sinews 

In  a  currency  at  par. 

— Anonymous. 

348 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  6 

A  man  cannot  tell  what  shall  be ;  and  what  shall  be  after  him.    Eccle- 
slastes  10 :  14. 


Content  intoef  fnftelp. 


(From  the  fourth  annual  message  to  Congress,  December 
6,   1864.) 

The  important  fact  remains  demonstrated  that  we  have  more 
men  now  than  we  had  when  the  war  began;  that  we  are  not 
exhausted  nor  in  process  of  exhaustion;  that  we  are  gaining 
strength,  and  may,  if  need  be,  maintain  the  contest  indefinitely. 
This  as  to  men.  Material  resources  are  now  more  complete  and 
abundant  than  ever.  The  natural  resources,  then,  are  unex- 
hausted, and,  as  we  believe,  inexhaustible.  The  public  purpose 
to  reestablish  and  maintain  the  National  authority  is  unchanged, 
and,  as  we  believe,  unchangeable.  The  manner  of  continuing  the 
effort  remains  to  choose.  On  careful  consideration  of  all  the  evi- 
dence accessible,  it  seems  to  me  that  no  attempt  at  negotiation 
with  the  insurgent  leader  would  result  in  any  good.  He  would 
accept  nothing  short  of  the  severance  of  the  Union  —  precisely 
what  we  will  not  and  cannot  give.  His  declarations  to  this  effect 
are  explicit  and  oft-repeated.  He  does  not  attempt  to  deceive  us. 
He  affords  us  no  excuse  to  deceive  ourselves. 


Oh,  the  bliss  of  human  blindness — just  to  know  ice  do  not  know 
What  is  hid  from  us  in  kindness,  both  of  sorrow  and  of  woe. 
'T  would  becloud  our  every  blessing  to  be  forced  to  know  to-day 
All  the  trials  that  atcait  us,  all  the  heartaches  by  the  icay. 

— Rev.  J.  M.  Fowler. — 


349 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  7 
We  looked  for  peace,  but  no  good  came.     Jeremiah  8 :  15. 


Crisis  Came. 

(From   the   third   annual   message  to   Congress,   December 
8,  1863.) 

According  to  our  political  system,  as  a  matter  of  civil  admin- 
istration, the  general  Government  had  no  lawful  power  to  effect 
emancipation  in  any  State,  and  for  a  long  time  it  had  been  hoped 
that  the  rebellion  could  be  suppressed  without  resorting  to  it  as  a 
military  measure.  It  was  all  the  while  deemed  possible  that  the 
necessity  for  it  might  come,  and  that  if  it  should,  the  crisis  of  the 
contest  would  then  be  presented.  It  came,  and,  as  was  antici- 
pated, it  was  followed  by  dark  and  doubtful  days.  Eleven  months 
have  now  passed,  we  are  permitted  to  take  another  view.  The 
rebel  borders  are  still  pressed  further  back,  and  by  the  complete 
opening  of  the  Mississippi,  the  country  dominated  by  the  rebel- 
lion is  divided  into  distinct  parts  with  no  practical  communica- 
tion between  them.  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  have  been  substan- 
tially cleared  of  insurgent  control,  and  influential  citizens  in 
each,  owners  of  slaves  and  advocates  of  slavery  at  the  beginning 
of  the  rebellion,  now  declare  openly  for  emancipation  in  their 
respective  States. 


It  la  coming — it  is  nigh ! 

Stand  your  homes  and  altars  by, 

On  your  own  free  threshold  die. 

Freedom's  soil  has  only  place 
For  a  free  and  fearless  race — 
None  for  traitors  false  and  base. 

With  one  heart  and  with  one  mouth 
Let  the  North  speak  to  the  South; 
Speak  the  word  befitting  both. 

Whittier. 

350 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  8 

The   Lord   raiseth  them  that  are  bowed  down.     Psalms   146 : 


(From   the  third  annual   message   to   Congress,    December 
8,  1863.) 

Of  those  who  were  slaves  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion, 
full  one  hundred  thousand  are  now  in  the  United  States  military 
service,  about  one-half  of  which  number  actually  bear  arms  in  the 
ranks,  thus  giving  the  double  advantage  of  taking  so  much  labor 
from  the  insurgent  cause  and  supplying  the  places  which  other- 
wise must  be  filled  with  so  many  white  men.  So  far  as  tested,  it 
is  difficult  to  say  that  they  are  not  as  good  soldiers  as  any.  No 
servile  insurrection  or  tendency  to  violence  or  cruelty  has  marked 
the  measures  of  emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks.  These 
measures  have  been  much  discussed  in  foreign  countries,  and, 
contemporary  with  such  discussion,  the  tone  of  public  sentiment 
there  is  much  improved.  At  home  the  same  measures  have  been 
fully  discussed,  supported,  criticised,  and  denounced,  and  the  an- 
nual elections  following  are  highly  encouraging  to  those  whose 
official  duty  it  is  to  bear  the  country  through  this  great  trial. 
Thus  we  have  the  new  reckoning.  The  crisis  which  threatened 
to  divide  the  friends  of  the  Union  is  past. 


Here  the  free  spirit  of  mankind  at  length 

Throws  its  last  fetters  off ;  and  icho  shall  place 

A   limit  to  the  giant's  unchained  strength  f 
Or  curl)  his  swiftness  in  the  forward  race? 

— Bryant. 


351 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  9 

Forgive,   and  ye  shall  be  forgiven.     Luke  6 :  37. 


JFuII  Pardon  (Granted. 

(Extract   from   Proclamation  of  Amnesty,    issued    Decem- 
ber 8,  1863.) 

Therefore  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States, 
do  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known  to  all  persons  who  have 
directly  or  by  implication  participated  in  the  existing  rebellion, 
except  as  hereinafter  excepted,  that  a  full  pardon  is  hereby 
granted  to  them  and  each  of  them,  with  restoration  of  all  rights 
and  property,  except  as  to  slaves,  and  in  property  cases  where 
rights  of  third  parties  shall  have  intervened,  and  upon  the  con- 
dition that  every  such  person  shall  take  and  subscribe  an  oath, 
and  thenceforward  keep  and  maintain  such  oath  inviolate;  and 
which  oath  shall  be  registered  for  permanent  preservation. 


And  now  the  Johnnies  and  the  Tanks 
Are  brothers  true,  forever; 
The  only  rivalry,  to  see 
Which  makes  the  best  endeavor 
To  help  our  glorious  country  on, 
The  sacred  home  of  liberty, 
And  hold  aloft  in  foremost  ranks 
Our  banner  of  the  free. 

— Redington. 


352 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER   10 

Thou    dost    establish    equity.      Fsalms  99 : 4. 


Central  3toea0. 

(Extract   from  a  speech   at   a  banquet,   Chicago,    Illinois, 
December  10,  1856,  after  the  Presidential  campaign.) 

Our  Government  rests  in  public  opinion.  Whoever  can  change 
public  opinion  can  change  the  Government,  practically,  just  so 
much.  Public  opinion  on  any  subject  always  has  a  "central  idea," 
from  which  all  its  minor  thoughts  radiate.  That  "central  Idea" 
in  our  political  public  opinion  at  the  beginning  was  and  until 
recently  has  continued  to  be  "the  equality  of  men."  And  although 
it  has  always  submitted  patiently  to  whatever  of  inequality  there 
seemed  to  be  as  a  matter  of  actual  necessity,  its  constant  working 
has  been  a  steady  progress  toward  the  practical  equality  of  all 
men.  .  .  .  Let  bygones  be  bygones;  let  party  differences  as  nothing 
be,  and  with  steady  eye  on  the  real  issue,  let  us  reinaugurate  the 
good  old  central  ideas  of  the  Republic.  We  can  do  it.  The  human 
heart  is  with  us;  God  is  with  us.  We  shall  again  be  able  to 
declare  not  that  "all  the  States  as  States  are  equal,"  nor  yet 
that  "all  citizens  as  citizens  are  equal,"  but  to  renew  the  broader, 
better  declaration,  including  both  these  and  much  more,  that  "all 
men  are  created  equal." 


What  God  in  Tils  infinite  wisdom  designed, 
And,  armed  with  the  weapons  of  thunder, 

Not  all  the  earth's  despots  or  factions  combined 
Have  the  power  to  conquer  or  sunder. 

The  union  of  lakes,  the  union  of  lands, 

The  union  of  States  none  can  sever, 
The  union  of  hearts,  the  union  of  hands, 

And  the  flag  of  our  Union  forever. 

— O.  P.  Morris. 


353 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  11 

They  shall  be  no  more  two  nations,  neither  shall  they  be  divided  Into 
two  kingdoms  any  more  at  all.     Ezekiel  37  :  22. 


of  <3Dtu  Rational  Jamil?. 


(Extract   from   second   annual   message   to   Congress,   De- 
cember 1,  1862.) 

A  nation  may  be  said  to  consist  of  its  territory,  its  people,  and 
its  laws.  The  territory  is  the  only  part  which  is  of  certain  dura- 
bility. "One  generation  passeth  away,  and  another  cometh,  but 
the  earth  abideth  forever."  It  is  of  the  first  importance  to  duly 
consider  and  estimate  this  ever-enduring  part.  That  portion  of 
the  earth's  surface  which  is  owned  and  inhabited  by  the  people 
of  the  United  States  is  well  adapted  to  be  the  home  of  one 
national  family,  and  it  is  not  well  adapted  for  two  or  more.  Its 
vast  extent  and  its  variety  of  climate  and  productions  are  of 
advantage,  in  this  age,  for  one  people,  whatever  they  might  have 
been  in  former  ages.  Steam,  telegraphs,  and  intelligence  have 
brought  these  to  be  an  advantageous  combination  for  one  united 
people. 


Our  country  I — 't  is  a  glorious  land! 

With  broad  arms  stretch'd   from  shore  to  shore, 
The  proud  Pacific  chafes  her  strand, 

She  hears  the  dark  Atlantic  roar; 
And  nurtured  on  her  ample  breast, 

How  many  a  goodly  prospect  lies 
In  Nature's  wildest  grandeur  drest, 

Enamel'd  with  the  loveliest  dyes. 

— Pabodie. 


354 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  12 

That  they  be    ...    willing  to  communicate.     I.  Timothy  6 : 18. 


Can  (Communicate  flfllitf) 

(From  a  letter  to  Honorable  Fernando  Wood,  December  12, 
1862,  In  answer  to  a  letter  stating  that  lie  had  Information 
that  the  Southern  States  would  send  representatives  to  the 
next  Congress,  provided  general  amnesty  was  granted.) 

I  strongly  suspect  your  information  will  prove  to  be  ground- 
less; nevertheless,  I  thank  you  for  communicating  it  to  me. 
Understanding  the  phrase  in  the  paragraph  above  quoted,  "The 
Southern  States  would  send  representatives  to  the  next  Congress," 
to  be  substantially  the  same  as,  "The  people  of  the  Southern 
States  would  cease  resistance,  and  would  inaugurate,  submit  to, 
and  maintain  the  National  authority  within  the  limits  of  such 
States,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  I  say  that  in 
such  case  the  war  would  cease  upon  the  part  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  if  within  a  reasonable  time  "a  full  and  general  amnesty" 
were  necessary  to  such  end,  it  would  not  be  withheld.  I  do  not 
think  it  would  be  proper  now  to  communicate  this,  formally  or 
informally,  to  the  people  of  the  Southern  States.  My  belief  is 
that  they  already  know  it,  and  when  they  choose,  if  ever,  they 
can  communicate  with  me  unequivocally.  Nor  do  I  think  it 
proper  now  to  suspend  military  operations  to  try  any  experiments 
of  negotiation. 


Though  gay  as  mirth,  as  curious  thoughts  sedate; 
As  elegance  polite,  as  power  elate; 
Profound  in  reason,  and  as  justice  clear; 
Soft  as  compassion,  yet  as  truth  severe. 

— Savage. 


355 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  13 

The  multitude  was  divided.     Acts  23 :  7. 


2Dibet0ttp  of  Sentiment. 

(Extract   from   the   second   annual    message  to    Congress, 
December  1,  1862.) 

Among  the  friends  of  the  Union  there  is  a  great  diversity  of 
sentiment  and  of  policy  in  regard  to  slavery  and  the  African  race 
among  us.  Some  would  perpetuate  slavery;  some  would  abolish  it 
suddenly,  and  without  compensation;  some  would  abolish  it 
gradually,  and  with  compensation;  some  would  remove  the  freed 
people  from  us,  and  some  would  retain  them  with  us;  and  there 
are  yet  other  minor  diversities.  Because  of  these  diversities  we 
waste  much  strength  in  struggles  among  ourselves.  By  mutual 
concession  we  should  harmonize  and  act  together.  This  would  be 
compromise,  but  it  would  be  compromise  among  the  friends,  and 
not  with  the  enemies  of  the  Union. 


Oh,  there  never  was  a  jangle, 
When  the  chords  of  time  did  tangle, 

But  the  master-touch  has  struck  the  keys 

That  brought  the  music  rare; 
And  the  song  that  faltered  lowly 
Has  been  changed  to  something  holy, 

And  the  rift  of  light  has  crowned  wiih  joy 

The  patient  singer   there. 

— W.  Lomax  Childress. 


356 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  14 

Speak  thou  the  things  which  become  sound  doctrine.     Titus  2  : 1. 


Responsible  ^{jrotifffj  ^itne  anH  dctermtp. 

(Extract   from    the   second    annual   message   to   Congress, 
December  1,  1862.) 

In  times  like  the  present,  men  should  utter  nothing  for  which 
they  would  not  willingly  be  responsible  through  time  and  eter- 
nity. Is  it  true,  then,  that  colored  people  can  displace  any  more 
white  labor  by  being  free  than  by  remaining  slaves?  If  they  stay 
in  their  old  places,  they  jostle  no  white  laborers;  if  they  leave 
their  old  places  they  leave  them  open  to  white  laborers.  Logically, 
there  is  neither  more  nor  less  of  it.  Emancipation,  even  without 
deportation,  would  probably  enhance  the  wages  of  white  labor, 
and  very  surely  would  not  reduce  them.  Thus  the  customary 
amount  of  labor  would  still  have  to  be  performed. 


There  's  many  a  way  a  man  may  see 

To  tetter  his  condition, 
And  many  steps  a  man  may  take 

To  win  a  good  position; 
But  the  first  question  he  should  ask, 

Observing  all  things  squarely, — 
Is,  when  he  first  begins  his  task, 

"Can  I  conduct  it  fairly  t" 

It  satisfies  a  man  to  know 

Upon  mature  reflection, 
That  how  his  fortune  came  to  grow 

Will  bear  a  close  inspection; 
To  gather  wealth  by  honest  ways 

Is  done,  alas,  too  rarely, 
And  yet  I'm  sure  it  always  pays 

To  know  we  've  won  it  -fairly. 

— Anonymous. 


357 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  16 

A  time  of  war,  and  a  time  of  peace.     Bcclesiastes  3  :  8. 


Skuitt  Past  an*  5totmp  Present. 

(Extract   from   the   second  annual    message   to   Congress, 
December  1,   1862.) 

I  do  not  forget  the  gravity  which  should  characterize  a  paper 
addressed  to  the  Congress  of  the  Nation  by  the  chief  magistrate 
of  the  Nation.  Nor  do  I  forget  that  some  of  you  are  my  seniors, 
nor  that  many  of  you  have  more  experience  than  I  in  the  conduct 
of  public  affairs.  Yet  I  trust  that  in  view  of  the  great  responsi- 
bility resting  upon  me,  you  will  perceive  no  want  of  respect  to 
yourselves  in  any  undue  earnestness  I  may  seem  to  display.  .  .  . 
The  dogmas  of  the  quiet  past  are  inadequate  to  the  stormy  pres- 
ent. The  occasion  is  piled  high  with  difficulty,  and  we  must  rise 
with  the  occasion.  As  our  case  is  new,  so  we  must  think  anew 
and  act  anew.  We  must  disenthrall  ourselves,  and  then  we  shall 
save  our  country. 


Our  fathers  to  their  graves  have  gone, 
Their  strife  is  past,  their  triumph  won; 
But  sterner  trials  wait  the  race 
Which  rises  in  their  honored  place — 
A  moral  warfare  with  the  crime 
And  folly  of  an  evil  time. 

For  right  and  liberty  they  fought, 
The  righteous  government  they  sought, 
We  seek  to  crush  monopoly, 
From  licensed  wrong  the  people  free, 
And  rid  our  land  of  greed  and  lust, 
Our  shibboleth — "In  God  we  trust." 

80  let  it  be.      In  God's  oicn  might 

We  gird  us  for  the  coming  fight. 

And  strong  in  him  whose  cause  is  ours, 

In  conflict  with  unholy  powers, 

We  grasp  the  weapons  he  has  given — 

The  light  and  truth  and  love  of  heaven. 

—Whittier. 


358 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  16 

Behold,  I  hare  set  before  thee  an  open  door.     Revelation  3  :  8. 


SDoot  ^a0  IBecn  flDpen  tor  a 


(Extract  from  fourth  annual  message  to  Congress,  Decem- 
ber 6,  1864.) 

A  year  ago  general  pardon  and  amnesty,  upon  specific  terms, 
were  offered  to  all,  except  certain  designated  classes,  and  it  was 
at  the  same  time  made  known  that  the  excepted  classes  were  still 
within  contemplation  of  special  clemency.  During  the  year  many 
availed  themselves  of  the  general  provision,  and  many  more 
would,  only  that  the  signs  of  bad  faith  in  some  led  to  such  pre- 
cautionary measure  as  rendered  the  practical  process  less  easy 
and  certain.  During  the  same  time,  also,  special  pardons  have 
been  granted  to  individuals  of  the  excepted  class,  and  no  volun- 
tary application  has  been  denied.  Thus,  practically,  the  door  has 
been  for  a  full  year  open  to  all,  except  such  as  were  not  in  condi- 
tion to  make  free  choice  —  that  is,  such  as  were  in  custody  or 
under  restraint.  It  is  still  open  to  all.  But  the  time  may  come  — 
probably  will  come  —  when  public  duty  shall  demand  that  it  be 
closed,  and  that,  in  lieu,  more  rigorous  measures  than  heretofore 
shall  be  adopted. 


Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 

In  the  strife  of  Truth  and  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side. 

Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the  bloom  or  blight, 

Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand  and  the  sheep  upon  the  right, 

And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  'twixt  that  darkness  and  that  light. 

— Lowell. 


359 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER   17 

Moses  stood  in  the  gate  of  the  camp,  and  said,  Who  is  on  the  Lord's 
side?     Exodus  32  :  26. 


(To  a  clergyman  who  said  he  hoped  the  Lord  was  on  our 
side.) 

I  am  not  at  all  concerned  about  that,  for  I  know  that  the  Lord 
is  always  on  the  side  of  the  right.  But  it  is  my  constant  anxiety 
and  prayer  that  I  and  this  Nation  shall  be  on  the  Lord's  side. 

(On  another  occasion.) 

I  have  been  driven  many  times  to  my  knees  by  the  overwhelm- 
ing conviction  that  I  had  nowhere  else  to  go.  My  own  wisdom, 
and  that  of  all  about  me,  seemed  insufficient  for  that  day. 


He  always  wins  who  sides  with  God; 

To  him  no  chance  is  lost. 
God's  will  is  sweetest  to  him  when 

It  triumphs  at  his  cost. 

All  that  he  blesses  is  our  good, 

And  unblest  good  is  ill, 
And  all  is  right  that  seems  most  wrong, 

If  it  be  his  sweet  will. 

— Faber. 


360 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  18 

He  brought  me  up  also  out  of  an  horrible  pit,  out  of  the  miry  clay,  and 
set  my  feet  upon  a  rock,  and  established  my  goings.  And  he  hath  put  a 
new  song  in  my  mouth.  Psalms  40  :  2,  3. 


Been  a  Victim. 

(From  a  temperance  address,  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Springfield,  Illinois,  February  22,  1842.) 

It  is  so  easy  and  so  common  to  ascribe  motives  to  men  of  these 
classes  other  than  those  they  profess  to  act  upon.  The  preacher, 
it  is  said,  advocates  temperance  because  he  is  a  fanatic  and 
desires  a  union  of  church  and  state;  the  lawyer,  from  his  pride 
and  vanity  of  hearing  himself  speak;  and  the  hired  agent  for  his 
salary.  But  when  one  who  has  long  been  known  as  a  victim  of 
intemperance  bursts  the  fetters  that  have  bound  him  and  appears 
before  his  neighbors  "clothed  and  in  his  right  mind,"  a  redeemed 
specimen  of  long-lost  humanity,  and  stands  up,  with  tears  of  joy 
trembling  in  his  eyes,  to  tell  of  the  miseries  once  endured,  now 
to  be  endured  no  more  forever;  of  his  once  naked  and  starving 
children,  now  clad  and  fed  comfortably;  of  a  wife,  long  weighed 
down  with  woe,  weeping,  and  a  broken  heart,  now  restored  to 
health,  happiness,  and  a  renewed  affection,  and  how  easily  it  is 
all  done,  once  it  is  resolved  to  be  done, — how  simple  his  lan- 
guage!— there  is  a  logic  and  an  eloquence  in  it  that  few  with 
human  feelings  can  resist. 


We   praise   Thee   if  one  clouded  home, 
Where  broken  hearts  despairing  pined, 

Behold  the  sire  and  husband  come, 
Erect  and  in  his  perfect  mind. 

No  more  a  weeping  wife  to  mock 
Till   all   her   hopes  in  anguish,  end — 
No  more  the  trembling  mind  to  shock, 
And  sink  the  father  in  the  friend. 

— Anonymous. 


361 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER   19 

He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise.     Proverbs  11 :  30. 


to  flfllin 

(From  a  temperance  address,  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Springfield,  Illinois,  February  22,  1842.  Continued  from  pre- 
ceding page.) 

If  you  would  win  a  man  to  your  cause,  first  convince  him  that 
you  are  his  sincere  friend.  Therein  is  a  drop  of  honey  that 
catches  his  heart,  which,  say  what  he  will,  is  the  great  highroad 
to  his  reason,  and  which,  when  once  gained,  you  will  find  but 
little  trouble  in  convincing  his  judgment  of  the  justice  of  your 
cause,  if,  indeed,  that  cause  really  be  a  just  one.  On  the  con- 
trary, assume  to  dictate  to  his  judgment,  or  to  command  his 
action,  or  to  mark  him  as  one  to  be  shunned  and  despised,  and 
he  will  retreat  within  himself,  close  all  the  avenues  to  his  head 
and  his  heart,  and  though  your  cause  be  naked  truth  itself,  trans- 
formed to  the  heaviest  lance,  harder  than  steel  and  sharper  than 
steel  can  be  made,  and  though  you  throw  it  with  more  than  Her- 
culean force  and  precision,  you  shall  be  no  more  able  to  pierce 
him  than  to  penetrate  the  hard  shell  of  a  tortoise  with  a  rye- 
straw.  Such  is  a  man,  and  so  must  he  be  understood  by  those 
who  would  lead  him  even  to  his  own  best  interests. 


The  fine  and  noble  way  to  kill  a  foe 

Is  not  to  kill  Mm;  you  with  kindness  may 

80  change  him  that  he  shall  cease  to  lie  so; 
And  then  he  's  slain.     Sigismund  used  to  say 

His  pardons  put  his  foes  to  death;  for  when 

He  mortifi'd  their  hate,  he  killed  them  then. 

— Aleyn. 


362 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  2O 

Lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet,  and  show  my  people  their  transgres- 
sion.    Isaiah  58 :  1. 


tf)i  Sl^oral  'Crump. 

(From  a  temperance  address,  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Springfield,    Illinois,   February  22,   1842.     Continued  from  pre- 
ceding page.) 

Whether  or  not  the  world  would  be  vastly  benefited  by  a  total 
and  final  banishment  from  it  of  all  intoxicating  drinks,  seems  to 
me  not  now  an  open  question.  Three-fourths  of  mankind  confess 
the  affirmative  with  their  tongues;  and,  I  believe,  all  the  rest 
acknowledge  it  in  their  hearts.  Ought  any,  then,  to  refuse  their 
aid  in  doing  what  the  good  of  the  whole  demands?  .  .  .  There 
seems  ever  to  have  been  a  proneness  in  the  brilliant  and  warm- 
blooded to  fall  into  this  vice.  The  demon  of  intemperance  ever 
seems  to  have  delighted  in  sucking  the  blood  of  genius  and  gen- 
erosity. What  one  of  us  but  can  call  to  mind  some  relative,  more 
promising  in  youth  than  all  his  fellows,  who  has  fallen  a  sacrifice 
to  his  rapacity?  He  ever  seems  to  have  gone  forth  like  the  Egyp- 
tian angel  of  death,  commissioned  to  slay,  if  not  the  first,  the 
fairest  born  of  every  family.  Shall  he  now  be  arrested  in  his  deso- 
lating career?  In  that  arrest,  all  can  give  aid  that  will;  and  who 
shall  be  excused  that  can,  and  will  not?  Far  around  as  human 
breath  has  ever  blown,  he  keeps  our  fathers,  our  brothers,  our 
sons,  and  our  friends  prostrate  in  the  chains  of  moral  death.  To 
all  the  living,  everywhere,  we  cry,  "Come,  sound  the  moral  trump, 
that  these  may  arise  and  stand  up  an  exceeding  great  army! 
Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath!  and  breathe  upon  these 
slain,  that  they  may  live."  If  the  relative  grandeur  of  revolu- 
tions shall  be  estimated  by  the  great  amount  of  human  misery 
they  alleviate,  and  the  small  amount  they  inflict,  then,  indeed, 
will  this  be  the  grandest  the  world  shall  ever  have  seen. 


Mourn  for  the  thousands  slain, 

The  youthful  and  the  strong; 
Mourn  for   the  wine-cup's   fearful  reign, 

And  the  deluded  throng. 

Mourn  for  the  lost — but  call, 

Call  to  the  strong,  the  free; 
Rouse  them  to  shun  that  dreadful  fall 

And  to  the  refuge  flee.  — Anonymous. 

363 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  21 

The  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return,  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads :  they  shall  obtain  joy  and  gladness, 
and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away.  Isaiah  35  : 10. 


a  felate  j$0r  a  2Drunfear&. 


(From  a  temperance  address,  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Springfield,  Illinois,  February  22,  1842.  Continued  from  pre- 
ceding page.) 

Happy  day,  when,  all  appetites  controlled,  all  passions  subdued, 
all  matters  subjugated,  mind,  all-conquering  mind,  shall  live  and 
move,  the  monarch  of  the  world!  Glorious  consummation!  Hail, 
fall  of  fury,  reign  of  reason,  all  hail!  And  when  the  victory 
shall  be  complete  when  there  shall  neither  be  a  slave  nor  a  drunk- 
ard on  the  earth  —  how  proud  the  title  of  that  land  which  may 
truly  claim  to  be  the  birthplace  and  the  cradle  of  both  those  revo- 
lutions that  shall  have  ended  in  that  victory!  How  nobly  dis- 
tinguished that  people  who  shall  have  planted  and  nurtured  to 
maturity  both  the  political  and  moral  freedom  of  their  species! 


Until  immortal  mind 

Unshackled   walks  abroad, 
And  chains  no  longer  bind 
The  image  of  our  God; 
Until  no  captive  one 

Murmurs  on  land  or  wave, 
And  in  his  course  the  sun 

Looks  down  upon  no  slave. 

—Whittier. 


364 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  22  (Forefathers'  Day) 

These    .    .    .  confessed  that  they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the 
earth.      Hebrews  11 :  13. 


Handing  of  tfje 

(Written  December  19,  1864,  to  Joseph  H.  Choate,  of 
New  York,  in  answer  to  an  invitation  to  be  present  at  the 
annual  festival  of  the  New  England  Society.) 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your  kind 
invitation  to  be  present  at  the  annual  festival  of  the  New  England 
Society,  to  commemorate  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  Thurs- 
day, the  22d  of  this  month.  My  duties  will  not  allow  me  to  avail 
myself  of  your  kindness.  I  cannot  but  congratulate  you  and  the 
country,  however,  upon  the  spectacle  of  devoted  unanimity  pre- 
sented by  the  people  at  home,  the  citizens  that  form  our  march- 
ing columns,  and  the  citizens  that  fill  our  squadrons  on  the  sea — 
all  animated  by  the  same  determination  to  complete  and  perpet- 
uate the  work  our  fathers  began  and  transmitted.  The  work  of 
the  Plymouth  emigrants  was  the  glory  of  their  age.  While  we 
reverence  their  memory,  let  us  not  forget  how  vastly  greater  is 
our  opportunity. 


M y  country,  't  is  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 

Of  thee  I  sing! 
Land  where  my  -fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  pilgrim's  pride, 
From  every  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring ! 

Our  father's  God,   to  thee, 
Author  of  liberty, 

To  thee  we  sing! 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light, 
Protect  us  by  thy  might, 

Great  God,  our  King. 

— Samuel  F.  Smith. 


365 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  23 

In  controversy  they  shall   stand  in  judgment.      Ezekiel   44  :  24. 


^fjc  £Bnlp  Substantial  2Dif  toner. 

(Written  from  Springfield,  Illinois,  December  22,  1860,  to 
Honorable  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  who  afterwards  was  Vice 
President  of  the  Confederate  States.) 

Your  obliging  answer  to  my  short  note  is  just  received,  and  for 
which  please  accept  my  thanks.  I  fully  appreciate  the  present 
peril  the  country  is  in,  and  the  weight  of  responsibility  on  me. 
Do  the  people  of  the  South  really  entertain  fears  that  a  Republi- 
can administration  would,  directly  or  indirectly,  interfere  with 
the  slaves,  or  with  them  about  the  slaves?  If  they  do,  I  wish  to 
assure  you,  as  once  a  friend,  and  still,  I  hope,  not  an  enemy,  that 
there  is  no  cause  for  such  fears.  The  South  would  be  in  no  more 
danger  in  this  respect  than  it  was  in  the  days  of  Washington.  I 
suppose,  however,  this  does  not  meet  the  case.  You  think  slavery 
is  right  and  ought  to  be  extended,  while  we  think  it  is  wrong  and 
ought  to  be  restricted.  That,  I  suppose,  is  the  rub.  It  certainly 
is  the  only  substantial  difference  between  us. 


Workman  of  God  I      Oh,  lose  not  heart, 

But  learn  what  God  is  like; 
And  in  the  darkest  battle-field 

Thou  shalt  know  where  to  strike. 

Blest,  too,  is  he  who  can  divine 

Where  real  right  doth  lie, 
And  dares  to  take  the  side  that  seems 

Wrong  to  man's  blindfolded  eye. 

— Faber. 


366 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  24 

War  a  good  warfare.     I.  Timothy   1 : 18. 


of  a  (Breat  fttmp. 


(To  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,   December  22,   1862.) 

I  have  just  read  your  commanding  general's  preliminary  report 
of  the  batle  of  Fredericksburg.  Although  you  were  not  success- 
ful, the  attempt  was  not  an  error,  nor  the  failure  other  than  an 
accident.  The  courage  with  which  you,  in  an  open  field,  main- 
tained the  contest  against  an  entrenched  foe,  and  the  consummate 
skill  and  success  with  which  you  crossed  and  recrossed  the  river 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  show  that  you  possess  all  the  qualities 
of  a  great  army,  which  will  yet  give  victory  to  the  cause  of  the 
country  and  of  popular  government.  Condoling  with  the  mourners 
for  the  dead,  and  sympathizing  with  the  severely  wounded,  I  con- 
gratulate you  that  the  number  of  both  is  comparatively  so  small. 
I  tender  to  you,  officers  and  soldiers,  the  thanks  of  a  Nation. 


Soldiers  in  arms !  defenders  of  our  soil  I 
Who  from  destruction  save  us;  who  from  spoil 
Protect  the  sons  of  peace,  who  traffic  or  who  toil; 
Would  I  could  duly  praise  you,  that  each  deed 
Your  foes  might  honor,  and  your  friends  might  read. 

— Crabbe. 


367 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  25  (Christmas  Day) 

Search  the  scriptures  :   .    .   .  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me.  John  5  :  39. 


Profitably  (Engage &. 


(To  Joshua  Speed,  his  intimate  personal  friend  about   a 
year   before   his   death.) 

I  am  profitably  engaged  in  reading  the  Bible.  Take  all  of  this 
book  upon  reason  that  you  can,  and  the  balance  on  faith,  and  you 
will  live  and  die  a  better  man. 

(At    another    time.) 

I  am  very  sure  that  if  I  do  not  go  away  from  here  a  wiser  man, 
I  shall  go  away  a  better  man  for  having  learned  here  what  a  very 
poor  sort  of  a  man  I  am. 


The  star  which  marked  the  wise  men's  way 

At  our  Redeemer's  Mrth, 
No  longer  guides  with  cheering  ray 

Our  footsteps  here  on  earth. 

Yet  light  is  given  us  from  above 

Our  pathicay  to  define; 
And  blessed  words  of  truth  and  love 

Like  stars  around  us  shine. 

— Anonymous. 


368 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  2« 

Behold,  I  have  sent  unto  thee  a  present.     I.  Kings  15  :  19. 


Cf)ti$tma0  (Bit t. 

(Letter  to  General  Sherman,  December  26,  1864.) 

Many,  many  thanks  for  your  Christmas  gift,  the  capture  of 
Savannah.  When  you  were  about  to  leave  Atlanta  for  the  Atlan- 
tic Coast,  I  was  anxious,  if  not  fearful;  but,  feeling  that  you 
were  the  better  judge,  and  remembering  that,  nothing  risked, 
nothing  gained,  I  did  not  interfere.  Now,  the  undertaking  being 
a  success,  the  honor  is  all  yours,  for  I  believe  none  of  us  went 
further  than  to  acquiesce.  And,  taking  the  work  of  General 
Thomas  into  account,  as  it  should  be  taken,  it  is  indeed  a  great 
success.  Not  only  does  it  afford  the  obvious  and  immediate  mili- 
tary advantages,  but  in  showing  to  the  world  that  your  army 
could  be  divided,  putting  the  stronger  part  to  an  important  new 
service,  and  yet  having  enough  to  vanquish  the  old  opposing 
forces  of  the  whole — Hood's  army — it  brings  those  who  sat  in 
darkness  to  see  a  great  light. 


Yes,  and  there  were  Union  men  who  wept  with  joyful  tears 
When  they  saw  the  honored  flag  they  had  not  seen  for  years ; 
Hardly  could  they  be  restrained  from  breaking  forth  in  cheers 
While  we  were  marching  through  Georgia. 

— Henry  C.  Work. 


369 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  27 

A  doctor  of  the  law,  had  in  reputation  among  all  the  people.    Acts  5  :  34. 


of  SDoctor  of  2Uto0. 

(Letter  written  December  27,  1864,  to  Dr.  John  Maclean, 
president  of  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey.) 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your  note  of 
the  20th  of  December,  conveying  the  announcement  that  the  trus- 
tees of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  had  conferred  upon  me  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  The  assurance  conveyed  by  this  high 
compliment,  that  the  cause  of  the  Government  which  I  represent 
has  received  the  approval  of  a  body  of  gentlemen  of  such  char- 
acter and  intelligence,  in  this  time  of  public  trial,  is  most  grateful 
to  me.  Thoughtful  men  must  feel  that  the  fate  of  civilization 
upon  this  continent  is  involved  in  the  issue  of  our  contest. 
Among  the  most  gratifying  proofs  of  this  conviction  is  the  hearty 
devotion  everywhere  exhibited  by  our  schools  and  colleges  to  the 
National  cause.  I  am  most  thankful  if  my  labors  have  seemed  to 
conduce  to  the  preservation  of  those  institutions  under  which 
alone  we  can  expect  good  government,  and  in  its  train  sound 
learning  and  the  progress  of  the  liberal  arts. 


'T  is  not  in  titles,  nor  in  rank, 

'T  is  not  wealth,  like  London  tank, 

To  make  us   truly   blest. 
If  happiness  hath  not  her  seat 

And    center  in   the  breast, 
We  may  be  wise,  or  rich,  or  great, 

But  never  can  be  blest. 

— Anonymous. 


3,70 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  28 

Condescend   to    men   of   low   estate.     Romans   12 : 16. 


flDut  of  $®v  Wl&ml  £ine. 


(To  a  Washington  correspondent  who  entered  the  Presi- 
dent's office  and  found  him  very  busy  counting  greenbacks.) 

This,  sir,  is  something  out  of  my  usual  line;  but  a  President  of 
the  United  States  has  a  multiplicity  of  duties  not  specified  in  the 
Constitution  or  acts  of  Congress.  This  is  one  of  them.  This 
money  belongs  to  a  poor  negro  who  is  a  porter  in  the  Treasury 
Department,  at  present  very  bad  with  the  smallpox.  He  is  now 
in  the  hospital,  and  could  not  draw  his  pay  because  he  could  not 
sign  his  name.  I  have  been  at  considerable  trouble  to  overcome 
the  difficulty  and  get  it  for  him,  and  have  at  length  succeeded  in 
cutting  red  tape,  as  you  newspaper  men  say.  I  am  now  dividing 
the  money  and  putting  by  a  portion  labeled,  in  an  envelope,  with 
my  own  hands,  according  to  his  wish. 


We  live  in  deeds,  not  years;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths; 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 
We  should  count  time  by  heart-throbs.     He  most  lives 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best. 

— Bailey. 


371 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  29 

We  are  made  a  spectacle  unto  the  world,  and  to  angels,  and  to  men. 
I.   Corinthians  4  :  9. 


&ttangr  Spectacle. 


(To  Doctor  Sunderland,  chaplain  of  the  Senate,  a  few  days 
before  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  issued.) 

Doctor,  if  it  had  been  left  to  you  and  me,  there  would  have  been 
no  war.  If  it  had  been  left  to  you  and  me,  there  would  have  been 
no  cause  for  this  war;  but  it  was  not  left  to  us.  God  has  allowed 
men  to  make  slaves  of  their  fellows.  He  permits  this  war.  He 
has  before  him  a  strange  spectacle.  We,  on  our  side,  are  praying 
him  to  give  us  victory,  because  we  believe  we  are  right;  but  those 
on  the  other  side  pray  him,  too,  for  victory,  believing  they  are 
right.  What  must  he  think  of  us?  And  what  is  coming  from  the 
struggle?  What  will  be  the  effect  of  it  all  on  the  whites  and  on 
the  negroes?  As  for  the  negroes,  Doctor,  and  what  is  to  become 
of  them,  I  told  Ben  Wade  the  other  day  that  it  made  me  think 
of  a  story  I  read  in  one  of  my  first  books,  "^sop's  Fables."  It 
was  an  old  edition,  and  had  curious,  rough  wood-cuts,  one  of 
which  showed  four  white  men  scrubbing  a  negro  in  a  potash  ket- 
tle filled  with  cold  water.  The  text  explained  that  the  men 
thought  that  by  scrubbing  the  negro  they  might  make  him  white. 
Just  about  the  time  they  thought  they  were  succeeding,  he  took 
cold  and  died.  Now,  I  am  afraid  that  by  the  time  we  get  through 
this  war  the  negro  will  catch  cold  and  die. 


O  pity  God,  this   miserable  age! 
What   stratagems,   how   fell,    how   butcherly, 
Erroneous,  mutinous,  and  unnatural,   — 
This  deadly   quarrel  daily  doth   beget! 

— Shakespeare. 


372 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


DECEMBER  30 

Unto  thee  shall  the  vow  be  performed.     Psalms  65  : 1. 


$oto  Before  CS0&. 

(At    a   Cabinet    meeting   just    before    the    issue   of    the    Pro- 
visional Emancipation  Proclamation,  September  22,  1864.) 

The  time  for  the  annunciation  of  the  emancipation  policy  can 
be  no  longer  delayed.  Public  sentiment,  I  think,  will  sustain  it, 
many  of  my  warmest  friends  and  supporters  demand  it,  and  I 
have  promised  my  God  that  I  would  do  it.  I  made  a  solemn  vow 
before  God  that  if  General  Lee  was  driven  back  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, I  would  crown  the  result  by  the  declaration  of  freedom  to 
the  slaves. 


Yes !  thy  proud  lords,  unpitied  land !  shall  see 
That  man  hath  yet  a  soul — and  dare  be  free! 
A  little  while,  along  thy  saddening  plains, 
The  starless  night  of  desolation  reigns; 
Truth  shall  restore  the  light  by  nature  given, 
And  like  Prometheus,  bring  the  flre  of  heaven! 
Prone  to  the  dust  oppression  shall  be  hurl'd — 
Her  name,  her  nature,  wither'd  from  the  world. 

— Campbell. 


873 


DECEMBER  31 

When  a  few  years  are  come,  then  I  shall  go  the  way  whence  I  shall  not 
return.      Job  16  :  22. 


§>ilent  Artillery  ot 


(Extract  from  an  address  before  the  Springfield,  Lyceum, 
in  1838,  when  he  was  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  He  here 
alludes  to  our  Revolutionary  ancestors.  See  pages  35,  36,  37.) 

In  history  we  hope  they  will  be  read  of  and  recounted  as  long 
as  the  Bible  shall  be  read.  But  even  granting  that  they  will, 
their  influence  cannot  be  what  it  heretofore  has  been.  Even  then 
they  cannot  be  so  universally  known  nor  so  vividly  felt  as  they 
were  by  the  generation  just  gone  to  rest.  At  the  close  of  that 
struggle  nearly  every  adult  male  had  been  a  participator  in  some 
of  its  scenes.  The  consequence  was  that  of  those  scenes,  in  the 
form  of  a  husband,  a  father,  a  son,  or  a  brother,  a  living  history 
was  to  be  found  in  every  family  —  a  history  bearing  the  indubi- 
table testimonies  to  its  own  authenticity,  in  the  limbs  mangled, 
in  the  scars  of  wounds  received  in  the  midst  of  the  very  scenes 
related  ;  a  history,  too,  that  could  be  read  and  understood  alike  by 
all,  the  wise  and  the  ignorant,  the  learned  and  the  unlearned. 
But  those  histories  are  gone.  They  can  be  read  no  more  forever. 
They  were  a  fortress  of  strength;  but  what  the  invading  foeman 
could  never  do,  the  silent  artillery  of  time  has  done  —  the  leveling 
of  its  walls.  They  are  gone.  They  were  a  forest  of  giant  oaks; 
but  the  resistless  hurricane  has  swept  over  them  and  left  only 
here  and  there  a  lonely  trunk,  despoiled  of  its  verdure,  shorn  of 
its  foliage,  unshading  and  unshaded,  to  murmur  in  a  few  more 
gentle  breezes  and  to  combat  with  its  mutilated  limbs  a  few  more 
ruder  storms,  then  to  sink  and  be  no  more. 


The  year  is  closed — the  record  made, 
The  last  deed  done,  the  last  icord  said; 
The  memory  alone  remains 
Of  all  its  joys,  its  griefs,  its  gains; 
And  now  icith  purpose  full  and  clear 
We   turn   to  meet  another  year. 

— Anonymous. 


374 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


INDEX  TO  SELECTED  TOPICS 


PAGE 

ABSTRACT  Moral  Question,  An . .  260 
Abutment  on  the  Other  Side, 

The     328 

Act  of  Abraham  Lincoln,   The..  190 

Acts    of    a    Drama 262 

Adam's    Ale    149 

Admonition    of   Our   Lord,    An..  233 

Affair  at  Fort   Sumter,   The 209 

Affectionate    Farewell,    An 50 

Age  Is  not  Dead.  The 21 

All  Better  and  Happier  Together  225 

Ambition    79 

Ann    Rutledge    246 

Another  Year  of  Blessing    337 

Approach   of  Danger,   The 36 

Aristocracy     327 

Assumed   Historical    Facts 224 

Attachment  Toward  Our  Race. .  251 

Attacks  Made  on  Me,  The 137 

Authority  From  the  People 73 

Authority  of  a  Higher  Character  241 

BALLOTS  the  Successors  of  Bul- 
lets          99 

Base  Alloy  of  Hypocrisy.  The..  321 
Beginning  of  Love  With  Me.  The  53 
Beloved  History  and  Cherished 

Memories     204 

Best  Wish  You  Could  Make  Me, 

The     312 

Better  Prepared  for  the  New  Re- 
lations     226 

Better    Than    Gold 325 

Better  to  be  Separated    250 

Beyond   the   Psalmist's  Limits..   335 

Bioeraphv    17 

Black    Soldier,    The 118 

Bond    of    Human    Sympathy....    101 

Bow  to  God  Only 102 

Breaking  Down  'of  Civil  and  Re- 
ligious   Tyrannies 22 

Britchen    Broke,    The 240 

Brothers  of  a  Common  Country.    333 

But    One    Way 98 

By  no  Means  Excluding  Females  173 

CALL   for   Seventy-five   Thousand 

Militia    114 

Call    for    Three    Hundred    Thou- 
sand   Men 191 


PAGE 

Calmness,  Caution,  and  Forbear- 
ance      283 

Candidate  for  the   Legislature. .  34 

Capital    and    Labor 310 

Captured     Flag 85 

Cause  of  My  Country,  The 15 

Central    Ideas    353 

Character    in    Canes 19 

Christian    Commission,    The....  165 

Christmas    Gift    369 

Coercion    and    Invasion 52 

Commendations     From     Literary 

and    Learned    Men 40 

Common    Cause    for    These    Ob- 
jects       58 

Common    Rights   of   Citizens'.  .  .  .  120 

Compliment,    A 242 

Compliment    to    Woman 84 

Conferred  Essential  Service....  318 
Cooperate  With  the  President- 

Elect     244 

Cordial    Good    Will 55 

Costly     Sacrifice,     A 334 

Counterfeit    Logic    232 

Crisis     Came.     The 350 

Cure  for   Boils 343 

DANGER  in  Being  Misled 196 

Dangerous  Element,  A 263 

Day  of  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer  285 

Dead-Head  Passengers 219 

Dead  Loss  for  Jehu 49 

Declaration  of  Independence,  The  194 

Declaration  of  Purpose 296 

Definition  of  the  Word  "Liberty"  117 

Dperee  of  Doctor  of  Laws ....  370 
Demonstrated  in  Blood  Their 

Risrht  to  the  Ballot 14 

Difficult  R61e,  A 156 

Direct  Contact  With  the  People  339 

Discourage  Litigation 91 

Dispensing  of  Patronage.  The.  .  217 
Distracted  Condition  of  the 

Country  54 

Disturbs  Outside  of  Political 

Circles  291 

Diversity  of  Sentiment 356 

Divided  House  Cannot  Stand.  A  176 

Divine  Interposition  and  Favor.  144 

Dixie  107 


375 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


PAGE 

Don't    Shoot    Too    High 269 

Door  Has  Been  Open  for  a  Year  359 

ELECTION  a  Necessity,  The 323 

End   near  at  Hand.   The 126 

Entitled  to  the  Property 96 

Eternal    Antagonism 86 

Eternal    Struggle,    The 295 

Events   Have  Controlled  Me....    136 
Everything     I     Say     Goes     Into 

Prfnt     109 

Extemporaneous    Speaking 90 

FALSE  Assumption,  A 264 

Fight    This    Battle    Upon    Prin- 
ciple      207 

Final  Triumph  of  Right 6? 

Fool  the  People 100 

For  a  Period  of  Three  Years 132 

For  the  Sake  of  the  Whole  Coun- 
try   202 

Foundations   of   New    Societies.  .  288 

Fox   River    39 

Fraternal   Feeling  Growing 229 

Full    Pardon    Granted 352 

Fundamental  Idea,  A 268 

GENERAL    Education 78 

General    Grant 80 

General    Harrison's    Birthday...      48 
General   Winfleld    Scott    Retired.  314 
Generous    and     Prosperous     Sys- 
tem   346 

Genuine   Popular   Sovereignty . . .  297 

Getting   Used    to    Things 95 

Glad  at  What  Has  Happened      .  142 

Glorious     Achievements 255 

Glorious   Consummation,   A.  .      .  206 

Glorious  News 108 

God  Bless  All   the  Churches.      .  143 
Good   Old    Maxims  of   the   Bible, 

The    311 

Got  to  Sit  on  the  Blister 223 

Gradual   Abolishment  of   Slavery  1: 

Gradual    Emancipation 199 

Great   Pook   of   God,    The 197 

Great   Men    336 

Greens — Try  Them  on  Jake....  128 

HEARTS    and    Homes    Yet    to   be 

Desolated     3'<2 

He  Got  Away  from  Me 139 

Henceforward    Shall    be    Free....      9 

Henry    Clay    245 

Hideous  Serpent,  A 129 

Home  of  One  National  Family..    354 
How  I  Earned  My  First  Dollar. 

No.      1    140 

How  I  Earned  My  First  Dollar. 

No.   2    141 

How  Sound  and  Strong  We  Are.   324 

How  to   Win  Men 362 

Humblest  of  AU  the  Presidents.     57 


PAGE 

I  AM  a  Practical  Prohibitionist.  320 

I  have  carefully  Read  the  Bible.  23 

I  Have  Determined  for  Myself .  .  275 

Illustration,    An     308 

I    Made   a    Prediction   Only 200 

I   Made  Temperance  Speeches...  281 

I   Must  Do  the  Best  I  Can 276 

I  Must  Save  This  Government .  .  216 

Incidents   of   the   War 203 

Inestimable   Jewel,   An 254 

Ingenious    Sophism 211 

Inoperative    Document,    An 266 

I    Now   Thee   Wed 317 

Inside  of  a  Gentleman,  The 235 

In   the   Garden  of  Gethsemane.  .  26 

In  the  Hands  of  the  People 38 

In  the  Union  or  Out  of  it Ill 

I  Shall  do  Nothing  in  Malice. .  .  220 
It    Will    Occur    in     God's    Own 

Good    Time 259 

I  Will  be  Ready  for  Them 181 

I   Will   not  buy  it   With  Pledges  147 

JEWELL  of  Liberty  in  the  Family 

of  Freedom   81 

John  Brown    345 

Join     Names     of     Liberty     and 

Union    168 

Jones  and  Sarah  Ann 158 

Joyful   Meeting,  A 20 

Judge  Douglas    46 

Judicial   Decisions    184 

Justice  of  My   Intentions,  The..    330 

KEEP  My  Faith  With  Friend  and 

Foe     228 

Keep  on   Doing  Our  Duty 316 

King    Richard    III 88 

LABOR  is  the  Superior  of  Capital  257 

Landing    of   the    Pilgrims 365 

Last   Leaf,   The    93 

Law   of  Nations,   The 221 

Leaning  Towards    Grant    131 

Legal  Inheritors  of  Fundamental 

Blessings     35 

Lever  of  Power,  The 201 

Liberty    is    Your    Birthright 103 

Like  Causes  Produce  Like  Effects  248 

Lock   of   a   Hundred   Keys 185 

Lost    My    Apple    Overboard. .  . .   326 

MAGNIFICIENT  Flag  of  the  Coun- 
try         174 

Maintain  the  Contest  Indefinitely  349 
Maintaining    the    Guarantee. . . .   214 

Making   a    Fizzle 341 

Malice    Toward    None,     Charity 

for    All     77 

Material  for  the  Work  is  Abun- 
dant       210 

Matter  qf  Dollars  and  Cents 398 


37? 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


PAGB 

May   God   Superintend   the   Solu- 
tion       236 

Mere  Matter  of  Policy    302 

Message    to   the   Miners. 258 

Military    Hero,    A 31- 

Misunderstanding,     A 68 

Moral,  Social,  and  Political  Evil, 

A     261 

More   Colors   Than   One 237 

More   Involved   Than    Realized..  239 
More    Than    Baltimore    Conven- 
tions       169 

Most   Happy    to    Cooperate 150 

Mr.    Vallandigham     189 

Music  of   the  Union 155 

Must   Change   Our   Tactics 319 

Mutual    Security    64 

My  Angel   Mother    287 

My     Boy,     Willie 59 

My  Childhood  Home   282 

My    Dissatisfied    Fellow-Country- 
men       75 

My    Early    History    51 

My  Name  in   History    10 

My  Perceptions  of  Responsibility 

and    Duty    340 

My    Position    is    not    a    Bed    of 

Roses     45 

My     Solicitude    for    This    Great 

Country    227 

My   Whole   Reliance   in   God 166 

NATION  Cannot  Live  on  Injustice  177 

Naturally  Anti-Slavery  134 

Neither  a  Slave  nor  a  Drunkard  364 

No  Dissatisfaction  of  Mine 278 

No  Fault  of  Mine  175 

No  Friends,  IS'o  Pleasure 106 

No  Half -Way  Business  About  it  119 

No  Hypocritical  Pretense 231 

No  Mention  of  the  word  "Negro," 

or  "Slavery" 289 

Nomination  Gratefully  Accepted, 

The  187 

No  Need  of  War  62 

None  Left  to  Pay  the  Debts.  .  . .  213 

No  Parallel  290 

No  Prejudice  Against  Southern 

People  198 

Norway  and  Sweden  28 

Not  Entirely  Unworthy  170 

No  Taint  of  Personal  Triumph..  322 

Not  Equal  in  All  Respects 186 

Nothing  But  a  Noise 313 

Not  the  Right  Kind  of  Religion  145 

OBSERVANCE  of  the  Sabbath ....  329 
Old      Constitution      Unimpaired, 

The     74 

On   a   Chase    338 

Once    Slaves,    Now    Soldiers....  351 

One  Who  Has  Been  a  Victim.  . .  361 

Qnly  Substantial  Difference,  The  366 


TAGH 

On    the    Lord's    Side bt>o 

Opposite  Opinions  and  Advice..  265 

Ordinance    of     1787 300 

Origin    of    the    Greenback 348 

Our   Men  not   Moles,  or   Birds.  .  127 

Our    Support    and    Defense 42 

Out  of   My   Usual   Line 371 

Overmatch,     An 47 

Owen    Lovejoy    160 

PACIFIC    Measures 153 

Palpable    Facts    135 

Parable  of  the  Lost  Sheep 234 

Parallel     Case     163 

Pardon    and    Respites     284 

Party  Lash  and  Ridicule,  The..  151 

Patent   Right   Case,   A    342 

Pay  the  Cost  of  a  Causeless  War  44 

People's   Contest.    A    87 

Perpetual   Peace  and  Friendship  27 

Petroleum    V.    Nasby    182 

Plain  Language    16 

Practical   War   Measure    267 

Prayed    for    Victory    at    Gettys- 
burg       195 

Prayers   for   Both    Could    rot   be 

Answered     76 

Prayers    of    the    Pious    and    the 

Good     222 

Presentiment,  A    112 

Profitably    Engaged     3(58 

Providence     not     Unmindful     of 

the    Struggle     162 

Public    Sentiment     12 

Purposes   of   the    Almighty,    The  256 

QUALITIES  of  a  Great  Army ....  367 
Quiet  Past  and   Stormy  Present, 

The    358 

RADICALS  and  Conservatives. . . .  305 

Real    Issue.    The 292 

Reconstruction     104 

Remembered  by  the  Loved  Ones 

at   Home    179 

Renewed  Trust.  The    69 

Renew    Our    Trust    in    God 215 

Repel  Force  by  Force 116 

Responsible    Through    Time    and 

Eternity     357 

Retrograde    Institution,     A 286 

Revolutions     do    not     Go     Back- 
ward       152 

Right    Makes    Might     67 

Righteous   and    Speedy    Peace...  110 

Rightful    Masters     274 

Rightful     Results,     The 238 

Root,    Hog,    or   Die 41 

SAFE    Conduct    Both    Ways 208 

Save  the  Union    243 

Savior's     Condensed     Statement, 

The,    ,.,,,,,,,,.,,,.,.,,,.,  3Q 


877 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


PAGE 

School    of    Events 122 

Scriptural    Authority     306 

Secession     the    Essence    of    An- 
archy       72 

Sensible  of  the  Great   Responsi- 
bility       148 

Sermon  to  Boys — Little  People.  161 

Shakespeare     82 

Shifting   Scenes  of  the  Present.  130 

Shooting   Over    the    Line 270 

Signs   of   the   Times 140 

Silence    the    Agitator    and    Save 

the    Boy     172 

Silent  Artillery  of  Time,  The...  374 

Singular    Occurrence,    A 167 

Slavery  Abolished   in  District  of.  . 

Columbia    115 

Slavery   in   Bible  Times 307 

Slavery   in    Slave   States 230 

Slavery     Must     Die     That     the 

Union  Might   Live 11 

Small    Retainer,    A 89 

Solemn   Sense  of  Responsibility.  279 

Solemn    Vow    Before    God 373 

Some  Things  Legally   Right  Not 

Morally    Right    18 

Sound  the  Moral   Trump 363 

Southern  Apprehension 70 

Special    Gratitude    to    God 138 

Spotted    Animals     331 

Squatter    Sovereignty    183 

Squirming  and  Crawling  About.  315 

Stand  by   Our  Duty    66 

Start  a  Public   Sentiment 347 

State   Against   Mr,    Whiskey.  ...  97 

Story    About    My    Hair 157 

Strangre   Spectacle.    A 372 

Struggle    at    Trenton,    The 60 

Subjects  of  Great  Importance..  252 

TENDENCIES   to  Ultimate  Eman- 
cipation       303 

Their    Business,    Not    Mine 125 

Thenceforward    Forever    Free .  . .  277 

They  Can  Communicate  With  Me  355 

This  Little  Negro  Question 299 

This  Rock  on  which  I   Stand...  25 

Fhomas    Jefferson    105 

Time   is   Everthing    193 

To  the  Young  Men 29 

Towering    Gfnius     37 

Traitor    Forfeits    His    Property, 

The   43 


PAGE 

Treat  it  as  a  Wrong 29:« 

Treat  You  as  My  Own  Neighbors     65 

Trees     121 

True    System,    The    94 

Truth  Needs  to  be  Told,  The ...      83 
Two     Ways    of    Establishing     a 
Proposition 301 

ULTIMATE  Law  for  All,  The....   304 
Union   and   Fraternal   Peace. . . .   205 
Union  and  the  Old   Flag.  The..    253 
Union  Older  Than  the  Constitu- 
tion,   The    71 

Union    Older    Than    the    States, 

The     212 

Universal    Amnesty    and    Univer- 
sal   Suffrage    13 

92 


WAIVE  Minor  Differences 247 

War  is  Over, — The  Jerusalem..  113 

War  is  Terrible 178 

Washington  61 

We  Cannot  Escape  History...  344 

We  Have  Come  to  Dedicate.  .  .  159 

We'll  Get  You  Safe  Across...  164 

Well  to  be  a  Little  Color-blind.  188 

We  Shall  Try  to  do  Our  Duty  123 

We  Still  Have  Strength 192 

What  "Demonstate"  Means ....  32 

What  do  You  Mean  to  do? 272 

What  We  Mean  to  do 271 

When  is  the  War  to  End? 180 

When  the  People  Rise  in  Mass . .  56 
Why  Indiana  Became  a  Free 

State  309 

Why  Stand  Passive? 218 

With  God's  Help  I  Shall  Not 

Fail  24 

Without  Money  and  Without 

Price  280 

Women  of  America,  The 33 

Worse  Than  the  Most  Depraved 

Murderer    171 

YARD  Full  of  Old  Bulls.  A...  124 

You  Are  Inferior  in  Numbers.  .  .  273 

5Tou  Never  Treat  it  as  a  Wrong  294 
Your  Race  Suffering  a  Great 

Wrong  249 

You  Vote  Against  Your  Interests 

and    Principles     154 


378 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


ADAMS,  Mary  M.,  13,  159,  216,  221 
322  332 

Addison,    Joseph,    152,    213. 

Alexander,  Dr.,  37. 

Aleyn,   Charles,   362. 

Anonymous,  11,  12,  14,  16.  26,  50, 
61,  64,  68,  71,  85,  97,  107,  127, 
128.  129,  136,  137,  138,  150,  156, 
158,  167,  168,  180,  182,  212,  217, 
241,  253,  263,  276,  281,  293,  295, 
311,  312,  313,  321,  329,  336,  339, 
348,  357,  361.  363.  368,  370,  374. 

Armstrong,    John,    265. 

BAILEY,  Philip  James,   371. 

Baillie,  Joanna,  326. 

Baker,    Francis,     113 

Banks,  — ,  60. 

Barber,    John    W.,    194. 

Barlow,   Joel,    134. 

Barry,    Michael    J.,    56. 

Bell,  Bishop  W.  M.,  277. 

Benjamin.    Park,  21.   239. 

Berkley,   Bishop,   181. 

Boker,  George  Henry,  118. 

Bonar,    Horatius,    112. 

Bradley,   Mary,  69. 

Prpwer.  Anthony,   177. 

Bridges,   Madeline  S.,  280. 

Brooke,  — ,   87. 

Brooks,    James    G.,    141. 

Bryant,  William  Cullen.  95,  142,  207. 

232,   246,   296,   318,   343,   351. 
Bulwer,  Sir  Edward  Lytton,  233. 
Burton,    John,    197. 
Burdick,  Mary  Livingston,   244. 
Butler,   Mrs.    Frances    Kemble,  252. 
Burns,  Robert,  282,  315. 
Byron,  George  Gordon,  Lord.  80,  119, 

135,    271,    305. 

CAMPBELL,    Thomas,    191,    373. 
Cary,    Alice,    18. 
Cary.   Phoebe,   130,    154. 
Cavil.  — ,   122. 
Channing,  B.  M.,  188. 
Chapman,   George,   278. 
Philrtrpss.    W.    Lomax.    356. 
Churchill,   Charles,   297. 


Clephane,  E.  C.,  234. 

Condo,  Rev.  A.  B.,  249. 

Cook,    Eliza,   90. 

Cornel  lie,  Pierre,  334. 

Cowper,   William,   88,   103,    117,    171, 

230,  236,  256,  301,  331. 
Coxe,    Arthur   Cleaveland,    146. 
Crabbe,   George,  367. 

DANA,  Mrs.,  323. 

Daniel,  Samuel,  62. 

Davenant,   Sir  William,   269,   341. 

Davenport,    Sir    Christopher,    92. 

De  Lislie,  Rouget,   185. 

Denham.    Sir   John,    184. 

Doddridge,    Philip,    165. 

Drake,   Charles  Rodman,   174. 

Dryden,   John,   39,   41,   45,    151,   211, 

328. 

Dunbar,    Paul    Laurence,    67. 
Dwight,  Timothy,  205. 

EDGERTON,  W.  A.,  160. 
Emerson,     Ralph    Waldo,     201,     202, 
299. 

FABEE,   Frederick  William,   259,   290, 

360,   366. 

Fields,   James  T.,   58. 
Finch,   Frances  M.,   111. 
Fiske.   Horace  Spencer,  257. 
Fowler,  Rev.   J.  M.,  349. 

GALLAHER,    William    D..    300. 

Gates,  Mrs.  Ellen  H.,  20,  178,  218. 

Gay.  John,  275. 

Gibbons.   James   Sloan,   210. 

Gomersal.    Robert,   203. 

Gould,   Miss  Hannah  F.,  126. 

Gould.   S.   B.,  143. 

Grannis.    Miss.   325. 

Gray,   Thomas,   46. 

HALE,    Mrs.     Sara    Joseph,    28,    73, 

220.  308. 
Hall.  Ens-ene  J.,  9,  96,  147,  190,  196, 

223    227.   235 
Halleck.   Fi'tz  Greene,   173,  209,   222, 

243,  245. 


379 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


Harte,    Francis    Bret,    192. 

Havard,    William,    99. 

Havergal,    Frances    Ridley,    24. 

Hay,    John,   42,    66. 

Heath,  Robert,  17. 

Hemans,  Felicia  Dorothea,  155,  169. 

Hemmings,  — ,   273. 

Herrick,   Robert,    53. 

Hill,    George,    268. 

Holland,    J,   G.,   38. 

Holmes,    Oliver    Wendell,    131,    132, 

226,  250,  309,  319 
House,  Ben  D.,  51,  287. 
Howell,  James,  52. 
Humphries,    David,    116. 
Hyde,  W.   DeWitt,   229. 

IRVING,  Minna,   198. 

JEFFREY,  B.  T.,  63,  101. 
Johnson,  Dr.   Samuel,  82,   183. 

KEATS,  John,  206. 
Kennedy,  — ,  335. 
Kephart,  Dr.  I.  L.,  144. 
Key.  Francis  Scott,  36,  114. 
Kipling,    Rudyard,   337. 
Kurgenknabe,    J.    H.,    93. 

LAMPERTINS,  — ,  166. 

Landon,   Miss   L.   E.,  231. 

Lingua.    — ,    224. 

Longfellow,     Henry    Wadsworth,    29, 

40,  74,  89.  124,   161,  347. 
Longfellow,  Samuel,  238. 
Lorenz,    Edmund    S.,    320 
Lowell,    James    Russell,    10,    83,    86, 

105,   200,   279,  294,   310,   344,   359. 

MACKAY,  Charles^  237,  240,  267,  342. 

Macleod,   Norman,    215. 

Manley,    Charles   Benjamin,   317. 

Martin,  W.   C.,   149. 

Martyn.    John,    189. 

McLellan,  Isaac,  193. 

Meredith,    Owen,    32. 

Middletown,  Thomas,  314. 

Miller,   Clara  Lothamer,  304. 

Miller,  James,  65. 

Miller,   Joaquin,   266. 

Milton.   John,  25.   145. 

Montgomery,  James*  15,  125,  199. 

Moore,  Thomas,   72,  81,  292,  298. 

More.   Hannah,   76. 

Morris,   George  P.,   176,   346,  353. 

NABB,  T.,  242,  283. 
Neal,  Mrs.  J.  C.,  98. 
Neumarck,  George,  162. 

OTWAY,  Thomas,  172. 


PABODIE,  William  J.,  288,  354. 
Percival,  James  Gates,  316. 
Pike,  General  Albert,  272. 
"Pindar.  Peter"   [Dr.  John  WolcottJ. 

264. 
Pope,  Alexander,  49,  70,  77,  204,  247. 

286. 

Porteus,  Dr.  Beilby,  140. 
Pratt,   Silas  G.,  285,  324. 
Prior,  Matthew,  164,  186. 

RALEIGH,  Sir  Walter,  251. 

Read,  Thomas  Buchanan,  179. 

Reddington,  — ,   352. 

Riley,  James  Whitcomb,   19. 

Rogers,  Samuel,  48. 

Rowe,  Nicholas,  54,  91,  163,  187,  330. 

SANDS,  Robert  C.,  84. 

Savage,    Richard,    355. 

Scott,   Sir  Walter,  23,   35,   270. 

Shakespeare,  William,  43,  44,  47,  55. 

148,   170,   175,   228,   248,   262,   284, 

306,  307,  338,  372. 
Shirley,  James,  214. 
Sigourney,  Mrs.   Lydia  Huntley,   254. 
Slasrenhaup,   J.   W.,  75. 
Smith,   Mrs.   Margaret,   106. 
Smith,   Samuel   F.,  365. 
Spencer,    Esmund,    78. 
Sprague,    Charles,    153. 
StPdman,      Edmund      Clarence.     327. 
Stillingfleet,    Benjamin,    109,    120. 
Stoddard,    Richard   Henry,   31. 
Swain,  Charles.  59. 
Swift,    John,   258. 

TATHAM,  — ,  289. 

Taylor,   Tom,   22,   57,    79,   94,    157. 

Thomson,   James,   208. 

Tickell,    Thomas,   110. 

Tupper,   Martin,   Farquahar,   27. 

WALFORD,  W.   W..   195. 

Wallace,   W.   R.,  225. 

Ware,    Henry,    Jr.,    133,   274. 

Warring,   Anna    L.,    340. 

Waters,    Joseph   G.,   345. 

Watts.  Isaac,  30. 

Whittier,    John    Greenleaf,    102,    104 

108,   115,   121,   219,   260.  261,   291. 

302,    303,    333,    350,    358,   364. 
Wilcox,    Ella  Wheeler,    34. 
Work.   Henry  C..   3(i9. 
Wordsworth,    William,    33.    123. 
Wreford,    J.    R.,    255. 

YOONG,  Edward,   100,   139. 


380 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


INDEX  TO  SCRIPTURE  QUOTATIONS 


GENESIS. 

I.  SAMUEL. 

ESTHER. 

Ch 

,  V.          PAGE 

Ch. 

V.          PAGE 

Ch. 

v. 

PAGE 

18 

:  8   

158 

12  : 

24  

238 

2  : 

7   

.   53 

IB 

:  1   

26 

16  : 

7   

235 

is 

:  25  

63 

17  : 

29  

248 

JOB. 

:u 
84 

:  49  
:  16  

179 
271 

26  : 
30  : 

23  
26  

170 
85 

3  : 

5. 

19  

0 

115 
15 

:;v 

:  30  

59 

6  : 

25  

.   67 

14 

EXODUS. 
:  13  

199 

3  : 

7  • 

II.  SAMUEL. 

38  
9 

113 

10 

10  : 
10  : 
13  : 

1   
17  
17  

45 
347 
.  200 

15 

18 
'-'1 

:  21  
:  16  
:  16  

108 
339 
171 

10  : 
23  : 

12  
3   

262 
150 

16  : 

26  : 

27  : 

22  
2   
8   

374 
201 
.  231 

•>:\ 

:7   

264 

32  : 

9.  10  ... 

.  224 

'24 

:  7   

73 

I.  KINGS. 

35  : 

16  

.   88 

81 

:  15  

329 

1  : 

5  

37 

:>>2 

:  26  

360 

2  : 

2   

131 

PSALMS. 

LEVITICUS. 

15  : 

18  : 

19  
21  

369 
301 

6  : 
12  : 

10  
5   

229 
.  303 

10 

:  9   ...... 

149 

20  : 

5   

174 

28 

:  10  

194 

II.  KINGS. 

22  : 

12  

124 

2<i 

:6   

110 

4  : 

39,  40  

128 

29  : 

11  

,  205 

NUMBERS 

6  : 
10  : 

17  
15  

155 
68 

37  ': 

17  
3   

240 
.  215 

11 

:  11  

227 

37  : 

5   

69 

23 

:  24  

56 

I 

.CHRONICLES 

37  : 
37  : 

12  
21  

95 
.  213 

DEUTERONOMY 

12  • 

17  

330 

37  : 

23  , 

279 

8 
17 
24 
80 
.",2 
82 
88 
88 

:  20  
:  11  
:7   
:  19  
:7   
:  31  
:  25  
:  27  

JOSHUA. 

306 
184 
292 
11 
297 
25 
192 
50 

19  : 
28  : 

II 

2  : 
14  : 
16  : 
20  : 
32  : 

13  47 
8   239 

.  CHRONICLES. 
14  342 
8   191 
8   166 
15  162 
8   207 

40  : 
40  : 
46  : 
46  : 
50  : 
56  : 
59  : 
60  : 
65  : 

2,  3  
14  
1   
9   
14  
5   
3,  4  
4   
1   
11  

.  361 
312 
24 
180 
285 
230 
.  175 
253 
373 
.  337 

66  : 

7   

99 

1 

:  8   

169 

NEHEMIAH. 

71  : 

9   

.  314 

1 

4 

B 

7 
24 

:  9   
:  13  
:  13  
:  13  
:  25  

21 
132 
87 
133 
300 

6  : 

6  : 
7  : 
8  : 
13  : 

3   
7   

9 

8   
30  

326 
104 
278 
289 
125 

71  : 

89  : 

18  
3 
19  
3   
:4   

335 
251 
148 
313 
.  353 

JUDGES. 

ibb 

105 

:4  
:  1  

138 
.  255 

4 

:  4,  5  

173 

EZRA. 

112 

:6  

.   61 

6 

:  15  

51 

7  : 

26  

44 

119 

:  128  

.  211 

381 


THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK 


Ch. 

V. 

PAGE 

cat 

V. 

PAGE 

Ch. 

V.          PAGE 

119 

:  157  

.  137 

7  : 

12  

42 

15 

:9   

246 

120 

:  7   

.  62 

7  : 

25  

32 

99, 

:3   

267 

124 

:8   

.  144 

8  : 

3   

294 

:  13  

274 

126 

:  3   

.  142 

8  : 

5   

12 

33 

:3   

236 

128 

:2   

.  346 

9  : 

18  

31 

34 

:  15  

277 

143 

:5   

.  282 

10  : 

14  

349 

44 

:  7   

261 

143 

:  10   

.  265 

10  : 

19  

348 

46 

:  16  

250 

145 

:  11  

22 

11  : 

9   

141 

49 

:  30  

296 

146 

:8   

.  351 

12  : 

10  

16 

50 

:  22  

114 

12  : 

13  

316 

51 

:  29  

256 

PROVERBS. 

SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

EZEKIEL. 

km 

8 
8 
10 
10 

:  9  
:  12  
:4  
:7  

308 
328 
94 
48 

5  : 

11  
ISAIAH. 

157 

16 
26 
33 
37 

:  47  
:  12  
:  32  
:  22  

299 
43 
107 
354 

11 

12 
12 
13 
14 
14 
14 
15 
15 
16 
16 
17 
18 
18 
18 
19 
20 
20 
20 
21 
21 

:  30  
:8  
:  20  
:  14  
:8  
:  24  
:  34  
:  22  
:  33  
:  20  
:  33  
:  22  
:9  
:  22  
:  24  
:  20  
:  18  
:  29  
:  3O  
:  11  
:  23  

362 
187 
208 
304 
134 
100 
177 
340 
34 
111 
136 
182 
315 
317 
106 
89 
203 
140 
327 
172 
147 

1  : 

1  : 
2  ' 
2  : 
3  : 
3  : 
3  : 
5  : 
8  : 
9  : 
13  : 
14  : 
22  : 
28  : 
32  : 
35  : 
38  : 
40  : 
41  : 
41  : 
42  : 
44  : 

5   
17  
4   
7   
2,3  
10,  11 
25  
9   
12  
16  
12  
3   
21  
6   
6   
10  
21  
9   
6   
20  :  
4   
12  

152 
280 
237 
258 
46 
295 
178 
332 
272 
196 
325 
103 
216 
210 
321 
364 
343 
270 
64 
252 
135 
341 

44 
47 

1 

8 
8 
9 

12 

2 
3 

5 

:  24  
:  14  

DANIEL. 
:4   
:  19  
:  25  
:  16  

HOSEA. 
:  10  

JOEL. 
:  7   
:9   

AMOS. 
:  15  

MICAH. 

366 
35 

122 
126 
302 
249 

331 

127 

219 

293 

22 
22 
22 
22 
23 
23 
23 
23 
24 
24 

:2 
:3   
:  28  
:  29  
:5   
:  12  
:  29,  30  ... 
:  32  
:5   
:6   

225 
41 
309 
40 
49 
78 
.  320 
129 
105 
.  190 

46  : 
49  : 
50  : 
51  : 
58  : 
58 
58  : 
60  : 
61  : 
62  : 
62  : 

8   
21  
8   
7   
1   
:6  
12  
12  
1   
1   
10  

344 
334 
58 
151 
363 
81 
288 
36 
9 
202 
226 

6 
2 

2 
2 

:8   

HABAKKUK. 
:  15  

HAGGAI. 
:4   
:  15  

ZECHARIAH 

163 
97 

324 
204 

27 

28 

:9 
:2   

.  244 
318 
.  243 

64  : 
66  : 

6   
13  

93 

287 

7 
7 

:9   
:  10  

283 
18 

31 

:  31  

.  119 

8 

:  4   

19 

JEREMIAH 

MALACHI. 

ECCLESIASTES. 

1  : 
5  : 

:  19  
:  23  

116 
72 

3 

:9   

291 

2 

:5  

.  121 

6  : 

16  

74 

3 

:  12  

27 

3 

:  1  

.  266 

7  : 

24  

286 

3 

:  17  

254 

3 
3 

:7   
:8   

130 
.  358 

8 
11 

:  15  
:6   

350 
214 

MATTHEW. 

5 

:  12  

.  257 

12 

:  11  

54 

4 

:  5,  6  

307 

6 

:  1  

.  260 

14 

:  18  

159 

5 

:  7   

139 

382 


THE  LINCOLN  TEAR  BOOK 


Ch. 
5 
5 
6 
6 
7 
12 
15 
16 
18 
19 
20 
20 
21 
22 
23 
23 
25 

3 
12 
13 

2 
6 
6 
17 
19 

5 

1 
5 
8 
9 
13 
17 
17 
18 
19 
20 
23 
23 
24 
27 
27 
27 
28 

V. 

•  9 

PAGE 

91 

Ch. 
2 
3 
8 
12 
13 
13 
13 
15 
15 
16 

I. 

1 
4 
8 
9 
10 
13 
14 
16 

II 
2 
6 
12 
13 

4 
6 
6 
6 

4 
5 
5 

3 

4 
4 

2 
3 

I. 
2 

8 

ROMANS. 

V.          PAGE 

:  10  160 
:  4   241 
:  21  206 

Ch. 

1 
1 

5 
5 
6 

1 
2 
3 
3 
3 
4 

2 

2 
2 
3 
3 

5 
11 
12 
13 
13 
13 

1 
1 

1 

2 

5 

3 
11 
16 
18 
21 
22 

I.  TIMOTHY. 
v.      .  I 

5 
18  
3 

'AGE 

198 
367 
217 
80 
355 

181 
263 
311 
23 
112 

357 
29 

228 
123 
92 

71 
365 
247 
333 
185 
183 

167 
145 

118 
220 

76 

359 
28 
223 
336 
20 
102 

:  17  
•6   
:  34  

70 
195 
39 

37  
:  13  
3   
12  
6   
•  1   

109 
345 
146 
234 
168 
.  310 

:  16  
1,  2 
•7   
•8   
:2   
30  

371 
209 
14 
96 
65 
222 
143 

IS. 

290 
372 
117 
156 
233 
60 
52 
120 

NS. 

275 
86 
322 
98 

83 
276 
154 
13 

212 
193 
268 

221 
33 
153 

232 

77 

NS. 

242 
165 

18  
18  

I.  TIMOTHY 
15  

:6   
:  15  
:  40  

•  19 

218 
161 
30 

f\T 

CORINTHIAJ 

:  11  . 

1   
15  
16  
6   

•  23 

298 

:9   

TITUS. 
1 
6   
10 

15 

1  S(! 

:9   

MARK. 
25  . 

176 

:  25  
:  11  
:  11  

37  
:7   , 

LUKE. 
:  14  

269 
323 

55 

:  14  

CORINTHIA 

:  l 

1   
13  

HEBREWS. 
12  

•  1J. 

:  36  

.  284 

:  1   

13  

:  10  

66 

:7   

GALATIANS. 
•  16  . 

1   

:  42  

75 

3   

JOHN. 
:  39  

368 

9 

JAMES. 
23  

:4   

ACTS. 

7 

259 
.  370 

:  7   
•  10 

EPHESIANS. 
•  16 

26  

I.  PETER. 
17  

:  34  

:  30  
:  36  . 

.   82 
84 

:  16  
.  17 

:22 
11  ... 

.  245 
.  197 

PHILIPPIANS 
•  16 

1   

I.  JOHN. 
14  

26  

188 
.   90 

:  24  

:3   

:24  . 

.  273 
38 

5   

COLOSSIANS. 

4 

REVELATION. 
8 

:  7 

.  356 

13  

189 
281 
.  319 

25  

•  14 

15  

:9 

THESSALONIJ! 
5 

9,  11  
23  

:  10  
44  . 

.  338 
.  164 

4 

:25  . 

305 

:6 

9  . 

383 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 
973.7L63RH651912  C001 

THE  LINCOLN  YEAR  BOOK  DAYTON,  0. 


30112025369726 


